Maguire's
by PixieH
Summary: Bella is bored with her job and bored with her boyfriend. To the Cullens, she's like one of the family, but can an old friend of Emmett's provide the spark that's been missing in her life? Rated M for lang and future lemmons. AH, B/J Some non-canon pairs.
1. Chapter 1

_**Just want to say a massive thank you to Mambomama, my beautiful beta. She's been nothing but fun and supportive, especially when trying to work out my 'Britisms' lol. Love ya bb! :D **_

_**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and it's characters, we all know that. However, Jasper can run away with me whenever he likes... ;)**_

_**Bella**_

**Friday 3.57pm**

Boredom.

That is the only way to describe my average working day. Every day at Newton & Crowley is the same. With every week that passes me by in this job, my cubicle seems to get smaller and smaller. It's just so boring. Everything in the office is either grey or beige. _And I mean everything_. From the staplers to the chairs. From the carpets to the computers and copiers.

We had been allowed to personalise our spaces when I first started working here, but about three months later, there'd been some sort of company shake up and the new boss (who had clearly attended one too many 'Productivity in the Workplace' seminars) decided that such items distracted us from our jobs and therefore must go. If it wasn't for the fact that I needed the money, I'd have cashed it in months ago. Sadly, the money really is good, which is why none of us ever leave.

So, here I am, in a swelteringly hot office, sipping my sixth coffee of the morning while listening to some woman on the phone complaining. I have no idea what she's prattling on about to be honest, but I hum and agree in the right places and she seems to think I'm paying attention.

Just as I am attempting to get her off the phone, a piece of folded paper flies at me from the next cubicle, hits the bridge of my nose and lands on the keyboard of my computer. As soon as I hang up the phone, I unfold the note and smile.

**Maguire's after work. Everyone's in.**

**TGIF!**

**Ali.x**

Thank God its Friday indeed! Actually, while we're thanking God for stuff, I thank him for Alice all the time. I'd surely have gone insane, or possibly homicidal, if not for her.

That little pixie is the best thing about this place. Aside from the fact that she's one of my best friends, she's also my roommate. We'd clicked right away when I started working here four years ago, bonding instantly over our possibly unhealthy intake of coffee and the lack of eye candy in this place. Especially after the string of bad dates I'd been on prior to joining the company.

Perhaps I should rephrase that earlier comment, what I meant was a lack of _available_ eye candy. There are a few truly gorgeous men here, but they are all spoken for. Luckily, even though they were hot, I wasn't interested in any of them as they made up the male portion of my little group of friends.

'The Crew,' as Emmett insisted we be called, seemed to spring out of nowhere, but within weeks, we were all so close, you'd think we'd grown up together. We were a family, if a somewhat unconventional and slightly crazy one!

Emmett is Alice's big brother and Rosalie's husband. Theirs was a true whirlwind romance, going on their first date and marrying in only eighteen months. Peter is engaged to Charlotte, and though he winds her up constantly with all his wise cracks and general jackassery, they are as much in love as Rose and Emmett. Ben and Angela have only been dating for two months, but though they are definitely more reserved than the other two couples, we can all tell they're smitten.

Then there's me.

No, I'm not single, but to be honest I wouldn't really mind if I was. Jake is nice enough, but that's just it. Nice. There's no spark, no chemistry, no _throw-down_.

He's a lovely guy, dependable and safe. My friends all like him well enough, but he's the only one out of our little group that doesn't work with us, so he's sort of out of the loop when we go out. I have to explain every little inside joke or funny incident, and I have to constantly remind him who we're talking about. It sounds awful, but it gets really frustrating.

Not just for me either, he doesn't like the amount of time I spend with them all. I can sort of see where he's coming from, he does have to share me more often than not, but that's just how we are as a group and have always been since we met. It's rare that I don't see at least one or two of them on any given day.

Though I don't know why he gets so annoyed about Alice, I live with her for fuck's sake, how am I supposed to _not_ see her so much?

Ok, I'm a terrible person, I know. I probably should just end it, but believe it or not, I really don't want to hurt him. Having said that, I suppose that staying with him when my heart's not in it is perhaps worse. I may be a coward, but I recently decided that until I got a reason, a clear cut sign that I should leave him, I would stay. I do care about him, I just don't think it's enough.

**You read my mind pixie.**

**First shots are on me.**

**~B x**

I peek over the divide to make sure she was alone in her cubicle before throwing the note back.

**Friday 6.00pm**

"Not a chance, Emmett!" I cringe as the big bear jiggled a shot of Goldschlager under my nose. God, but that shit is disgusting.

"She's right, baby. Don't you remember the Christmas party?" Rose shudders, clearly having a flashback of the eight of us and our enthusiastic, if mostly out of tune, rendition of 'The Fairytale of New York'. We definitely murdered a classic that night. The singing we could cope with. The hangover that shit caused the morning after, we could not. _Damn Goldschlager!_

By 6.00, we are all out of the office and settled round our usual table, with two empty shot glasses already sitting in front of each of us. It just goes to show how eager we all were to get out of there. We finish at 5pm, we all work on the 25th floor, and the bar is a fifteen minute walk away. It seems we're all in the mood to start the weekend as soon as possible.

Maguire's is definitely the place to do it.

This bar is to us, what Central Perk was to the characters in Friends. Don't get me wrong, we're not a bunch of raging alcoholics! But, when the owner of such a fine establishment is the brother of two of our own, well, it was inevitable that we would be here _a lot_.

Edward is Alice and Emmett's brother, and this bar is his baby. On the rare occasions he gets a night away from the place, he and his wife Tanya will come and party with us, but those nights are rare. Mostly, it's just the eight of us. Wait, I forgot Jake. Shit, it's usually the nine of us.

See? I even forget when he comes out with us. Oh...that is soooo not good.

"So, Moms and Pops are inviting us all over to the house next weekend." Alice announces as she and Char come back from the bar with our next round. "Edward said they called this afternoon and asked if he'd pass the message on when he saw us tonight."

I am about to ask how they knew we'd be in tonight, but the question died in my throat before I asked it. It's a dumb question. We're here every Friday.

"Well, we're free for some Ma and Pa Cullen hospitality. Esme loves me." Peter grins as Char rolls her eyes.

"Count us in too, guys. We're free aren't we, Angie?" _Aw, they are so cute._

"Yeah, sounds great. I haven't seen your folks in so long!" She smiles.

We all love Carlisle and Esme, then again, who doesn't? They're the dictionary definition of the perfect couple. Wealthy – but in no way stuck up – beautiful and successful.

"What about you, B?" Alice knows I would never pass up an opportunity to spend time with her at the family house. It's so calm and soothing there. I've never been able to adequately describe why, but I always feel so safe there. After my father passed away, Carlisle and Esme seemed to fill the void of parental comfort that I had lost. I've never told Alice that, but I'm sure she sees it.

"Oh, _I am so there_, Ali." She looks at me, a little confused. "What?"

"Don't you mean 'we' hon?" She asks, softly.

"Huh?"

_Fuck, I just did it again didn't I? _

I can tell she is trying to be discreet about my complete and apparent case of boyfriend amnesia, but it's always the things you don't want to discuss in public that will grab the attention of the whole group. Of course, Peter is the first to pick up on it.

"Think she means your man-child there, Shug."

"Peter!" Char scolds him as she clips him round the back of his head.

"Oh right, Jake." Can't believe I forgot him. _Again._ Fuck, I'm a bitch aren't I?

"Bella, is everything ok between you and Jake?" Rose must be concerned, it's usually 'Biatch'. I can't remember that last time she's called me 'Bella' outside of work.

All eyes are on me now. _Fantastic._

"Yeah, everything's, um, fine." Oh, I really don't want to get into this here.

"Fine? Bells, I'm sorry, but getting a latte when you ordered a cappuccino is _'fine'_. There's obviously something going on." Peter said incredulously.

"Yeah, Bells, you seem more excited about that drink in your hand than you do about your boyfriend." Emmett agreed. I have to give them credit, those two are really a lot more understanding than most of people give them credit for.

Naturally, I make a joke out of the situation to try and avoid revealing what a horrible person I am.

"Well, of course I'm excited about this drink, it is Jack after all."

No one is fooled.

"Be serious, Bella." _Again with my real name, Rose?_ "What's going on?"

I'm going to have to tell them. Truthfully, I need their advice.

"I feel like such a shit, you guys. I don't think I want to be with Jake anymore, but I'm too chicken to finish it. I know he's a great guy, and I should be over the moon. But there's no spark, you know?"

They were all nodding knowingly, except for Ben, who was looking slightly confused.

"I don't get it." He whispered to Angela, though it was Peter who explained it to him.

"She means she doesn't want to fuck him, dude." Thanks, Peter...

"Oh, I see." Ben squirmed in his seat a little and cleared his throat.

"We've only been together for a few months, you guys. He may be a hulk of a man, but he's a year or so younger than me. He's already seeing a wedding and kids in the near future. And he deserves it all. But it's too soon. I mean, jeez, I don't even think I can see myself living with him, never mind any of that!"

"Is that it, then? You think you're just scared?" Alice asked, kindly.

"No, I just don't get excited by him. I _should_ be sitting here wishing he was here right now, but I'm not. I _should_ be head over heels for him, but I'm just . . . not."

"No, just from thin air." Emmett guffawed, loudly.

"Yeah thanks, Em. She's clumsy as fuck, we all know that." Rose chided.

I just chuckled. I should know I'd never be able to have a completely serious conversation with all of them like this, but I knew they'd understand. They'd support me whatever I do.

'_Sky rockets in flight, Afternoon delight...'_

"Biatch, I can't believe you still have that ringtone!" There she was, the Rose I knew and loved is back.

"You say that every time you hear it, Rose." I chuckled as I fished the phone out of my bag and stood up to go outside to answer it.

"Is it the man-child, Bells?" Peter called after me. Flipping him off, I opened the door to the smoking terrace.

"Hey, Jake."

"**Hi Bella. Where are you? Are you home?"**

"No, Jake, it's Friday. We're all in the bar."

"**Right. Of course, I don't know why I'm even remotely surprised." **

_Well, what crawled up his ass today?_

"What does that mean?"

"**It means, Isabella," **_Oh, he did not just call me that__**.**_ I hadn't been 'Isabella' since my father died, and I legally changed it.** "...that it is our sixth month anniversary, and you've obviously forgotten. Or you just don't give a shit."**

Oh, god. That's today? Crap!

"Sorry, Jake. You're right, I did forget. Why don't you come to the bar and have a drink with us?"

"**No thanks. Much as I enjoy feeling like a spare part, I think I'll pass."**

"For god's sake, I forgot, okay? I said I was sorry. Why are you so bent out of shape over this? We can just do something tomorrow, spend the whole day together. Just come and have a drink with us. The live music starts in an hour or so."

"**If I wanted to have a relationship with another seven people, Bella, I'd be a fucking polygamist."**

"Jesus, Jake. We're on that again? So I have friends, what's the big deal? I don't care if you hang out with your friends from the Res, do I? So why is it such a big deal that I hang out with mine so much?"

"**That's just my point. You don't care."**

"Oh, that's horseshit, Jake. Stop twisting my words. You know that I care about you."

"**Well, good for me. You**_** care**_** about me. I fucking **_**love**_** you, Isabella. But I guess that doesn't mean much to you does it."**

I could tell he was seriously pissed, but I was seriously getting sick of this. He never spoke to me this way. In fact, I don't think he even swore at all unless he was watching a game with the guys. I knew I might not have been the best girlfriend in the world the last few months, but he knows how I feel about _that_ shit.

"Don't you fucking dare start with this shit again, Jacob."

"_**This shit**_**. Right. So, me saying that I love you is **_**'shit' **_**then is it?" **

_Arrrrrrrgh!_ I couldn't talk to him if he was going to be like this.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. Look, just come and have a drink."

"**No."**

"Ok, then. I'll tell them I've got to go, and I'll come meet you."

"**No. Don't trouble yourself, Bella."**

"Jake."

"**Forget it. I'm done. See you around, Bella."**

_WHAT THE FUCK?_

"So that's it? I forget one stupid fucking _non-_anniversary, and we're over?"

I could understand if it were our _one year_ anniversary, but six months? Come on! Granted, it's something Alice would have celebrated, but I'm just not like that.

"**No, that's not **_**'it'**_**. But it just proves my point that you don't care. This **_**'stupid fucking anniversary' **_**actually means something to me. **_**So it **__**is a big fucking deal.**_**"**

Shit. I really was a bitch. I'm not saying I appreciated the way he was talking to me, but I really should have tried to understand.

"Jake, listen-"

"**Good bye, Isabella."** With that, the line went dead.

I just stared at my phone.

I guess I should have called him back.

I should have been calling him back.

No, I should have _wanted_ to call him back.

There's that 'should' word again. If I really wanted to be with him, shouldn't I have remembered the stupid sixth month anniversary? He couldn't just have been mad about that. It must be the fact that I hadn't said those three little words yet.

He'd told me that he loved me, and I hadn't said it back.

The fact was though, that it wouldn't have been true if I had. Those words actually mean something to me. I could say it to my friends, because I truly do love them. I told Dad everyday that I loved him, because I did, with all my heart.

Saying it to a boyfriend was something entirely different though, and I flat out refused to be rushed into saying it.

He knew this.

I knew it has to be hard for him to not have me say it back, but would he rather I lied to him?

With a sigh, I shoved my phone in my pocket, and proceeded to jump the height of myself when I turned around. Edward was standing there with a drink in his hand and a worried look on his face.

"Jeebus, Edward! Scare a girl to death why don't you?" I laughed clutching my chest, trying to regain my composure.

He smiled, "Just thought you could use a drink, B. You ok?" _Aw, what a sweetheart._

"You heard all that, huh?" He nodded with a shrug. "God, I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's no big deal." I cringed at the choice of phrase, and it didn't go unnoticed. "Wait, what did I say? Oh, shit. You and Jake broke up."

It wasn't a question. I often thought he must be some sort of mind reader. Though, if he'd heard enough of what was said from behind the bar, it must have been fairly obvious what happened.

I took a sip from the tumbler he had handed to me. _Ah, sweet Gentleman Jack._

"You're too good to me, Edward. Thanks."

His trademark crooked grin spread across his face, "You're more than welcome, honey. Are you going to be ok?"

"Yeah, I will be. To be honest, I'd been waiting for a sign that I should end it between the two of us. Him dumping my sorry ass is a pretty big one, don't you think?" A humourless chuckle escaped my lips, causing him to frown slightly. "I guess I'm just more shocked at the way he spoke to me."

A true frown formed on his face and I quickly explained that Jake was shouting at me because he was angry and upset, but that he didn't say anything offensive.

Edward and Emmett had grown rather protective of me over the years, and truthfully, I loved it. I never had any siblings, so I loved that they cared for me like a sister. Luckily, his wife Tanya understood.

_Because really, who needed that drama?_

"I'll be fine, Edward. I promise. You know you're sister has my back."

"We all do, B." He whispered in my ear as he stooped down to hug me. With a kiss to the top of my head, and a quick squeeze, he released me and went back inside.

I silently cursed myself for not bringing my smokes outside with me. I really didn't want to face the Spanish Inquisition that I knew would be waiting for me back at the table. So I stood there for a while longer, sipping the delicious amber liquid, savouring the way it warmed me as it slid down my throat.

I really couldn't put it off any longer.

As I drained my glass and headed for the door, I realized that I hadn't shed a tear. Not one single tear for the end of my relationship.

I guess that said it all.

**_So that's chapter one guys, I'll be posting more soon so please click that little button and tell me what you think so far. Red.x_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey guys. Just want to thank everyone who has taken the time to review the last chapter. I love reading them so please, keep them coming :) By the way, Jake isn't being an ass in that last chapter, he's just really fed up. So no hating me for making him a jerk please, because he's not supposed to be one! Lol.x**_

_**As always, massive Emmett sized hugs to Mambomama, my awesome beta. **_

_**I don't own Twilight or the characters, but I'm trying to convince Jasper to run away with me.**_

**Time to face the music...**

As I stepped through the door, I looked over at our table and all eyes were trained on me. Their faces were a mixture of sympathetic smiles and concerned frowns. _Aw, I love my friends._

I gave them a reassuring smile and a wave, but headed straight to the bar. Bless her. Alice was waiting there for me, and as I got there, she reached up to give me a hug. (She is even shorter than me, which is saying something!)

"You ok, B? Sorry, but we couldn't help but overhear."

"Yeah, I figured that if Edward could hear me from way back here, you guys would have, too." Edward smiled apologetically from the other end of the bar. "I'm ok, really."

"You know, when we heard you getting angry, Em was about ready to go out there and check on you." I had to laugh. For as much as he gave me shit, he really hated to see me upset.

"He didn't need to do that. Today is apparently our six month anniversary, and I forgot. Well, I knew it was coming up, but I guess it didn't click that it was today." Alice looked a little shocked at first, but before she recovered, I saw a flash of understanding cross her face.

"Yeah, I apologized, of course, but he wouldn't hear it. I was just shocked at how he got so angry, so quickly. He was cussing me after his third sentence! I've never heard him speak to anyone like that before."

"Well he better not do it again anywhere near me, that's for damn sure." Emmett announced as he came up behind me and gave me a big bear hug. "You know, I always wondered what you saw in him. He's too...I don't know..._vanilla_ for you, Bells."

"You're too sweet, Em." I wheezed as he squeezed me a bit too tight. "Can't. Breathe. Emmett!"

"Oops!"

"No worries, you big lug. You can help us take the drinks back to the table though."

I ordered a round of our usual drinks, as well as eight Jaeger-bombers, earning myself a sly grin from Edward as he began to mix our drinks. He knew as well as the rest of them when I was on a mission.

He also knew what Jack did to me if I drank enough of it. Let's just say I turn into a randy bitch...

So I had to laugh when, after he divided the drinks on two trays and Alice and Emmett turned to take them back to the table while I paid, he slid one tall shot glass in front of me and held another in a toast. I sniffed mine. It was regular Jack Daniels, of course, because you don't slam the really good stuff.

"Here's to making you happy again, B. I'm afraid it's the most I can do from this side of the bar." I grinned we clicked and downed the shots.

Well, what the hell? If I was going to get dumped for being here, I might as well make the most of it!

The shot of Jack went down a treat, and I knew it was going to be a messy night. Of course, the drinks I had just bought weren't going to do much to keep us sober.

Kick. Ass.

I loved rowdy Fridays.

**Meanwhile, back at the table...**

I could hear the others argue over the correct way to drink a Jaegerbomb.

"You drop the whole shot, glass and all, into the Red Bull and chug it, dude." Emmett gestured wildly trying to make Peter understand.

"Uh huh, you shoot the shot, then the Red Bull." Peter argued.

"I'm telling you, Pete. You fucking drop it in! Why do you think they call it a 'Jaeger_bomb_', you asshat? The shot is the bomb!"

The rest of us fell about laughing as the two continued arguing. Rose and Char were looking at their respective spouses with a mixture of disbelief and affection.

"B, you bought the damn things, you can settle this." Emmett sighed, feigning annoyance, though I could see the smugness waiting to break through.

"Sorry, Peter. Emmett's right." Emmett's booming triumphant laugh was infectious. Even Peter couldn't keep his scowl in place for long before his lips began to twitch with the urge to smile.

"Right , now that's settled" began Alice, "How about a toast?"

It was tradition that everyone took turns at a toast, seeing as no matter what the occasion, in a group such as ours, everyone would have something to say about it. So why not make it a toast?

"To amazing friends!" Angela began.

"To Bella saying good-bye to a life of vanilla!" _Amen to that, Emmett!_

"To dancing up a storm tonight!" _Oh, Ali. I intend to..._

"To my Biatch!" _Hell yeah, Rose._

"To Edward, for putting up with our drunken asses!" _You know he loves it, Ben._

"To Jack Daniels, for bringing 'Naughty Bella' out to play!" _You know it, Char!_

"To Bella finding a good man soon, before she wears out the batteries!" _Nice, Pete..._

There was silence for a moment as we looked around at each other before we were all laughing harder than ever. 'Peter the Perv' struck again. _Dun dun duuuuuuun!_

We eventually got hold of ourselves to do the shots. On the count of three, we simultaneously dropped the shot glass of Jagermeister into the Red Bull and drank.

Emmett finished first, which came as a surprise to no one, with Rose, Char and I right behind him. Alice and Ben were the next to finish followed by Angela. She had never been able to shoot drinks, so she took long pulls of hers to finish it. Peter would have beaten all of us, except that in his eagerness to begin celebrating, he accidentally inhaled the last gulp and was still spluttering. He'd not hear the end of that all night!

"Yeah!" Emmett bellowed. He couldn't seem to regulate the volume of his voice after a few drinks. "You guys ready for another?"

"Maybe in a bit, Em." Rose was giggling. Obviously, she was beginning to feel a little buzzed.

Actually, as I looked around the table, we were all sporting that twinkly-eyed smile that signals the start of something potentially very messy. Oh boy, we were going be shitfaced before 9pm at the rate we were going.

_Fan-fucking-tastic._

_**Jasper**_

**Friday 5pm, driving...**

On the road again, only this time we're headed home for the first time in years. We had been on the road touring for the past eighteen months, but we had been away for the last five years.

It hadn't been intentional, we'd decided to go on a road trip after we graduated. Sort of a grand reunion if you like, having not seen each other for more than a few weeks at a time through college.

Thing is, we got as far as Nashville and never made it any further. We were 'spotted' by a scout for a record company during an open mike night on our second night there and we've barely looked back. Now, my musical tastes bent more to the rock scene, but I loved gigging with her and she had such an incredible voice for Country.

We had just finished our second tour.

The three years we'd been away from each other while at college had been a challenge for both of us. We were so close, like two halves of a whole.

Being apart from Victoria had been really hard. But we'd decided that it would be good for us to try to find our own way for a while. A chance for us to find our own identity away from the other, seeing as we'd always come as a pair.

It's like that when you're a twin.

Ok, so we're not identical. I'm a 6'5, blonde guy and she's a 5'9, redheaded girl. Even so, we do look somewhat alike. I've been told we have a certain, almost cat-like quality about us, whatever that means. Something about me being 'leonine' and her being 'very feline' in the way she moved.

To be honest, I had no fuckin' clue what that meant!

Anyway, we were on our way back to Washington. I was looking forward to the weather about as much as a kick in the crotch. Near constant cloud cover and ground that is never completely dry dooming me to life in heavy clothes and boots.

Who was I kiddin'? I lived in my jeans and boots, whatever the weather.

But it would be good to stay in one place for a while. Vic and I were renting a house while we were there. Seeing as we were on the road so much, seems sort of pointless to buy anywhere until we worked out where we wanted to settle.

_Man I could not wait to grab a beer!_

We finally arrived at the house. It wasn't a huge place, which was exactly the point. We were in our home town (well, surrogate home town as we're originally from Texas) and it'd feel wrong to flaunt the fact that we've made a lot of money from our music.

The only items we ever really spent serious cash on were our instruments (which we consider to be only right), our cars (I have a Ford F150 SVT Raptor) and our footwear (custom made boots and her borderline addiction to designer shoes tended to be a little pricey).

We'd been on the road for hours so it was great to finally get out and stretch my legs. Vic was obviously feeling the journey's effects, too.

"My god, Jazz. I cannot wait to grab a fuckin' beer!" _Yeah, I love my sister._ "I say we get our stuff into the house, wash up and head on out. What do you think?"

"I think that's a hell of a plan, Sis."

"Do I have to ask where?" She didn't even turn around as she knew exactly what my answer would be.

"You know you don't, Red."

She laughed as we grabbed our stuff from the bed of my truck. The house was furnished for the most part, as we'd shipped any larger items ahead of time. My bed and Vic's –amongst other things – had been in storage since we started this most recent tour, and frankly, I couldn't wait to get the plastic wrap off that bad boy and take a nap.

Luckily, the two biggest bedrooms had en-suite bathrooms, so a shower was the first thing on my to-do list. I dragged my bags up the stairs, and was left speechless.

My bed was not in pieces, covered in plastic as I had anticipated.

It was fully assembled and made up with the most comfortable looking bedding I had seen in a long time. The rest of my shipped furniture was in place and the room had been decorated since I last saw it.

From the squealing I could hear coming from down the hall, I guessed mine was not the only room that'd seen a welcome transformation. I walked to Vic's room to find her in mid flight as she took a running jump to land flat on her back on her fully made up bed.

"Yours too, huh?"

"Eeeeeeee! Jazz, I cannot begin to say how happy I am right now!"

"I'm with you there."

I was still chuckling at her as I returned to my room to get ready for tonight.

There was only one place we'd go tonight, and I couldn't fuckin' wait. I hadn't seen my best sons-of-bitches in three years. Even then, I only got to see them for one night.

Peter and I had been best friends since childhood. He and I had been inseparable since Mom and Dad moved us to Washington when we were in the 7th grade. I think he'd had a bit of a thing for Vic in the beginning, but that was soon put to rest the first time she wrestled his ass to the ground.

Yeah, Vic can handle herself as well as I can. When you grow up on a ranch it's a given.

Then there was that big beast, Emmett. We met at him at UDub in our freshman year. Pete had decided to stay in Washington to go college. He said, at the time, that he didn't want to 'ditch me like Vic was', though I knew it was because of Char. She still had one more year of high school to go. Those two were smitten from day one and I knew he didn't want to leave her. Not that he'd have admitted that to me.

Lost in my memories as I was, I hadn't realised that I'd unconsciously rummaged through my bags to find a towel and my toiletries and had the shower turned on and warmed up.

I had the water as hot as I could stand to try and work out the knots and aches in my muscles that the long journey has caused. I gotta say, this house and I were going to get along just fine if this bathroom is anything to go by. Not only did I have a walk-in shower with a head so big and wide it felt like it was raining in there, I had a large tub, too. In my _en-suite_!

The weather outside was as I expected, cold and rainy. _Perfect weather to break in my new leather jacket, at least. _My trusty boots under dark wash wranglers and a vintage Kiss t shirt saw me ready to go. I could still hear Vic singing in her room, so I assumed she was still getting ready.

I moved downstairs to investigate the rest of the house and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the whole place has been decorated, not just our rooms. It was understated enough that, should we choose to, we could decorate further. Though, I doubted we would, save for perhaps hanging a picture or two.

The kitchen had been a new addition to the house before we rented it and it was stunning. I found a note stuck to the fridge door by a magnet.

**Dear Jasper and Victoria,**

**Welcome home! Hoping this little note finds you well after such a long journey.**

**I took the liberty of stocking the kitchen with a few bits and pieces. I thought that grocery shopping wouldn't be high up on your list of things you'd want to do when you arrive. As I am guessing, that the first thing you will do after freshening up is heading out to find Emmett and Peter? I can tell you that, as always, they are at Edward's bar tonight. Though the group is little larger than before. You both will fit in perfectly, I am sure. They are a wonderful bunch, if a little, um...lively!**

**We are having them all round to the house next weekend, to welcome you both back. Though, as you asked, they do not know that you are here.**

**Carlisle and I cannot wait to see you both. It's been too long.**

**Love, Esme.**

I replaced the note for Vic to read and opened the door to the enormous fridge.

God bless that wonderful woman. Not only did Esme find and decorate this house, she'd stocked the fridge with enough groceries to last the weekend, including four six packs of beer and three two liter bottles of Coke.

I closed the fridge door and spotted another note stuck to a cupboard door that I had not previously noticed to my left.

**Hello, again!**

**I am certain that my son will be gracing your new home at some point in the next 24 hours, so here is an extra supply of food so that he doesn't eat his way through yours.**

**Victoria, I have a stocked wine rack for you in the basement to cool as I wanted to leave room in the fridge for your food.**

**Jasper, there is a liquor cabinet in the den. I have stocked it for you also.**

**Of course, I am not implying you're alcoholics, but I am sure you'll have a lot of company this weekend, and it will save you a trip to the store.**

**Xx**

Upon investigation, I discovered that the cabinet in the den was indeed well stocked including a gift wrapped bottle of Gentleman Jack.

_Esme Cullen is officially the sweetest woman in the world._

My sister's squealing interrupted my thoughts. She'd obviously discovered the notes and the food. Though, by the pitch of the noises coming out of that girl, it might have been that she'd discovered the wine in the cellar.

A second later she burst into the den with a grin on her face and a tear in her eye.

"Oh my fucking God, Jazz! I think Miss Esme may just be the sweetest woman ever!"

Once again, my own thoughts were echoed back to me and I chuckled as I took her hand and lead her to the door.

"She sure is, Red. Now, come on. Esme didn't tell them we were coming home, so let's go find those two assholes." I was ecstatic to see them again and Vic knew it.

"Oh, lord. I'm gonna wake up with a stinkin' hangover our first morning here aren't I?" She sighed as she opened the passenger side door to my truck. "Well, at least we don't have to worry about building and making up our beds whenever we get back later. I'm itchin' for a beer and I really don't want to sleep on the couch our first night in our new house."

"Amen, Sis."

With an exchange of identical grins we set off to give my two best friends the shock of their lives.

_Fan-fuckin'-tastic._

**_Hope you enjoyed it, click and let me know ;) Red.x_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello my lovely readers! I just want to take a second to thank all of you who have put me and/or my story on alert. You guys are great, thank you so much. Big Emmett hugs to those of you who left a review. Thank you for taking the time to do it.**

**Now the Halloween Countdown is over, I just wanted to say huge thanks to everyone who reviewed my one shot (The Familiar Stranger - The first one of the countdown). I had nothing but good ones and that made me grin like a fool. Think I got to replying to everyone (I hope).**

**Mambomama, my beautiful beta. You my love, are nothing short of WIN! x**

**As ever, I don't own these guys, but Jasper owns me. **

_**Jasper POV**_

**Thirty minutes later...**

As I killed the engine and opened the truck door, I could hear raucous laughter coming from inside the bar.

I'd missed this place so much. More than I realised until I got there and took in the familiar scene in front of me. Emmett's brother's Volvo was parked round the side of the building, just like always. He and I hadn't been as close as his brother and I, but Edward was a good guy.

I actually thought, when I'd first met him, that he would hit it off with Vic, but he met Tanya shortly after and before I could introduce them.

A booming laugh broke me out of my thoughts and the two of us turned to look at each other.

"Emmett!" We laughed in unison.

I opened the door for Vic and immediately spotted the big lug sitting round a large table full of people laughing their asses off at him. _No change there then_. Peter wasn't there, but I could see Char so he couldn't be far away.

"You go ahead, Brother. I'll get the drinks. Looks like we've a lot of catching up to do." Vic chuckled to herself as she slapped me on the back and strolled over to the bar.

I watched her long enough to see Edward do a double take, then grin like a mad man as he greeted her and looked over when she gestured behind her to where I was standing. I nodded, returning his greeting and strode over to the table where Emmett was sitting with his back to me.

The look on Char's face was an absolute picture as she saw me. Her jaw dropped and a few incoherent words escaped her lips before she was out of her seat and launching herself at me.

"Jasper? Oh, my fucking, GOD!" She squealed as she jumped into my arms and kissed my cheek.

"Hey, Char." I chuckled as she squeezed me so tight she almost choked me. "It's great to see you, too."

"What the..." Emmett mumbled on seeing Alice's elated face, before turning round to see what the fuss is about, "...what is g-...No fucking way!"

I only just managed to put Char down before I was given the biggest bone-crushing bear hug I'd had in a long time.

"Jasper, you sneaky fucker!" He boomed, finally letting me go. "Why didn't you tell us you were back in town?"

"We just got back! Plus, I wanted to surprise your goofy ass." I laughed as he and Char stood there almost bouncing with excitement.

Say what you like, I'd take this reaction from these two over the cheering of a crowd of thousands any day. The only one missing was –

"Whitlock?" I heard Peter before I saw him. He stood stock still in the middle of the bar, I guess on the way back from the bathroom.

I lost all ability to speak as I saw my best friend for the first time in years. In three strides, he crossed the floor to deliver another rib-crushing hug. Only this time I hugged back just as hard.

This guy is my brother in all but blood, and I was only now realizing how much I'd missed having his ass around all these years.

"You look good, bro."

"You too, Jasper. I can't believe you didn't tell us you were coming home."

"Now, Petey... What fun would that be?" Vic whispered over his shoulder as she handed me my drink.

_Jack Daniels, of course._

Char was bouncing as she grabbed on to Emmett's arm and he stood there looking stunned as Peter turned around to see Vic grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"Vicky? You've gotta be shitting me!"

"Good to see you, Pete." She giggled, "Don't I get a hug, too?"

He all but shoved me out of the way to pick her up and spin her around. Only I could see that she was trying very hard not to cry. She'd missed him as much as I had.

He finally put her down and she wobbled a little as she stepped to give Char a kiss on the cheek.

"Char! It's so good to see you. And you, Emmett!" Emmett's hug was much gentler than the one he gave me, though she still needed to remind him not to squeeze so hard. _The beast._

I heard a throat clear and we all turned to see five people staring at us.

Alice was almost vibrating from the urge to get up and greet us. A beautiful blonde was looking between Emmett and Vic with an eyebrow raised. A quiet looking man and what I took to be his girlfriend, were staring at us with their eyes wide with what I think was shock.

But all I could see were the most beautiful, chocolate brown eyes I had ever seen.

**Hey guys, I know that was short, so I'm posting the next chapter straight away. Because I love y'all! :D Don't forget to let me know what you think.x**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here we go my lovelies, as promised. **

**As always, I don't own these guys, but I think 'Big & Rich' got it right.**

_**Bella POV**_

**7.16pm**

We were all laughing as we finished our second round of Jaegerbombers. After much ribbing of Peter by Emmett over his last rather unfortunate attempt at one, Emmett was the one to come under our ridicule. He was, as always, the first to finish, but he was so eager to rub Peter's face in it that he jumped up out of his seat shocking Rosalie so much that she spat the last mouthful of her own shooter all over him. However, even though he was currently sporting a wet patch on his left ass cheek, he was still jubilant that he was 'The Jaeger God'.

_Unbelievable._

We all watched as Rose swatted him on the back of the head, when Char's jaw dropped and she looked like a deer in head lights.

What the fuck?

In the blink of an eye, she was out of her seat and launching herself at a very tall man. I couldn't see his face because Char's head was in the way, and he'd stumbled back slightly with the force of her hug.

We all had no idea what was going on (except for Alice, who looked ready to burst) as Emmett, looking confused as to what the hell is going on with her, mumbled as he turned to see where she went, "What the...what is g-...No fucking way!"

Ok, this was seriously weird. Char only just managed to scoot out of the way before Emmett suddenly barrelled out of his own seat to grab the new guy in what I imagined was a seriously bone-crushing hug. The two of them obviously knew this mystery man as, between them, they were as giddy as kids who'd had too much sugar.

Angela and Ben had the same look of disbelief on their face, while Rose and I just looked confused. That is until we heard Peter holler "Whitlock?" and Emmett moved to the side to stand with Char.

_Holy shit!_

Even Rose's eyes bugged at the sight of the man who currently stood in front of us.

He was, without a doubt, an angel. Or a God. Or at the very least, an Abercrombie & Fitch model.

Honey blonde hair that fell into his face as he laughed, broad shoulders and strong arms encased in a well fitting leather biker's jacket, long legs wrapped in slightly worn dark jeans and – oh, Holy Christ and all his little angels in heaven – black leather cowboy boots.

Fuck. Me.

I was brought out of my obvious display of lust by the shock of ice down my cleavage.

"Gah! Shit, Alice." I hissed, trying to fish the offending ice cube out of my top before I ended up with a huge wet patch on my boobs. "What's with you throwing stuff at me today, woman?"

"Rein it in, Swan. You're drooling."

I turned to her, only to see Ben looking stunned while Angela was mumbling under her breath "Oh my god, that's Jasper Whitlock. Oh my god, that's Jasper Whitlock. Oh my fucking god, that's Jasper Whitlock!"

Now, I was intrigued. Angela _never_ swore. Her Dad's a preacher so it wasn't a habit she ever got into.

As I was trying to come to terms with the profanities tumbling out of my shy friend's mouth, I heard a husky woman's voice whisper, "Now, Petey. What fun would that be?"

A beautiful, redhead was grinning at Peter as he turned around to face her.

"Vicky? You've gotta be shitting me!" He hugged her and I could see they were obviously close, as Char was looking so fondly at her. Emmett just looked stunned. Rose's eyebrow began to rise as I turned to look at the stunning woman who was now laughing with the others as she kissed Char's cheek and chuckled as Emmett gave her a crushing hug.

That was enough for Rosalie, who cleared her throat to remind her husband that his _wife_ and the rest of us were here, too.

"Oh! Sorry, Rose." Emmett was beaming, as were Peter and Char as the five of them turned to face us and I was struck dumb by the pair of deep blue eyes that were staring straight into my own.

I couldn't tear my eyes away.

_Come on, Bella. Snap out of it, girl. _

Ok, one step at a time...

Close mouth.

Breathe.

Look away.

No, come on, look away.

Look away, woman!

There you go.

No. Not at his crotch!

Shit.

Ouch!

Rose's stiletto heel digging into my ankle snapped me out of my mental paralysis and I looked up to meet her laughing eyes.

"You are soooo busted, Biatch!" She whispered as I felt my traitorous, trademark blush creep from my chest to my cheeks.

_Vicky _was standing with her arm wrapped around Abercrombie's waist, smirking at me. _Smug bitch._

Emmett and Char were grinning at us - well ok, just me – as Peter introduced everyone.

"You guys know Alice, of course." She finally got up and hugged the two beautiful creatures in front of us. Personally, I was surprised she'd lasted this long.

"This is Rosalie, Emmett's beautiful wife."

"It's Rose, guys. Rosalie sounds like I should be in the Waltons or something." Everyone chuckled, though the six standing more than the rest of us.

"This is Angela and Ben." Who had, thankfully, regained their respective motor functions and were able to smile and wave politely.

"And this, is Bella."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Bella."

_Oh, hell yeah. Keep talking to me, Cowboy. I loves me a sexy, Southern drawl. _

I just smiled and raised my glass a touch. I knew that if I tried to speak right know, the only words that were likely to come out of my mouth are some combination of 'Take' 'Now' 'Me' and 'Hard'.

But damn, that grin was just sinful.

"I'm Jasper, and this is Victoria."

At his introduction, everyone rose from their seats and began shaking hands and saying their own 'hello's. I was painfully aware that, though I'd had more than a little bit to drink, there was no way I'd be able to talk to Abercrombie, I mean Jasper, without making an idiot of myself.

Luckily, I realised that we were going to need two more chairs. So I crossed to the next empty table and grabbed two chairs to bring back with me.

Oh man, if being caught ogling the fine ass we'd just met wasn't a good enough first impression, I was now mortified that I was struggling to carry two chairs at once. _Oh, please don't let me trip_.

I made it back to the table without incident thankfully though, of course, Jasper was the one to relieve me of the chairs. Ok, deep calm breaths...

Must. Formulate. Coherent. Sentences.

"Thanks, Bella. Do you mind if I sit by you?"

_Oh, here we go..._

"No, not at all. As long as Victoria doesn't mind?" I could see that the smug redhead was still glancing my way. Last thing I needed was bitchy girlfriend drama.

Though, evidently that was what I was going to get. Great. I could not believe her! Then she just stood there, bold as brass, grinning at me. _Did she just wink? Unbelievable_.

Jasper's voice brought me out of my inner fuming.

"Why would she mind?" He was genuinely confused, which, in turn, confused me.

"Well, you're choosing to sit with another woman. If you were my man, I'd – what? Why are you laughing?" I had to smile, his laugh was infectious.

"You think Victoria is my girlfriend?" Ok, I was definitely missing something. "She's my twin sister."

"Oh. _Oh..._"

I felt so bad. She wasn't being a bitch, at all. What the hell was wrong with me? Seriously!

"Well, that's me feeling like a complete and total idiot. I'm really sorry, Jasper."

"Hey now, don't worry about it." I heard him whisper, "I like that you don't know who we are..." under his breath.

_Now, what was that all about?_

**Ok lovelies, so everyone's together now. Hoped you liked it. I promise there will be citrus, just have to wait a little while is all. ;)**

**All reviews are welcome so it'd be great to hear from you! Red.x**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Jasper POV**_

I was seriously trying not to laugh. The girl with the beautiful chocolate brown eyes was eyeing me like a juicy steak. I gotta say, if I hadn't had so much practice of my poker face, I'd likely have been doing the exact same thing.

She had long, mahogany hair tumbling down her back. She had a slender body, but not skinny. No that girl had definite curves. That blouse was hanging far too nicely on her. _Damn. _

Her peaches and cream skin was so pale and clear that it was too easy to see the blush creep up her neck to her beautiful face after she clearly got a kick under the table.

Oh, that girl was something else.

Peter introduced everyone. Peaches, I discovered, was actually called 'Bella'. More than appropriate in my opinion.

Then she surprised me.

Instead of blushing and avoiding my eyes as I thought she would, she blew me away. She looked me right in the eye, smiled and raised a glass to me. Well, hell. That girl had one beautiful smile.

As we all began to say individual 'Hello's, Vic leaned up to whisper in my ear.

"Think Snow White likes you, Brother. I've never seen someone so pale blush so red!"

"Hush up, Vic."

"Oh, you got it bad, Jazzy boy." I ignored her and moved to speak to Bella, who was struggling to carry two extra chairs over from another table.

"Thanks, Bella. Do you mind if I sit by you?"

Her skin flushed slightly as I took the chairs from her. Beautiful.

Now, I'm not one for clichés and all that flowery crap when it comes to romance, but her smile really was doing crazy things to me. I really should have been listening to what she was saying, but all I could focus on were those full pink lips.

Wait, did she say something about Victoria minding that I sit with her?

"Why would she mind?" Nice going, Jasper. You've spoken to her for less than a minute and you're already making an ass of yourself.

"Well, you're choosing to sit with another woman." _Another woman?_ "If you were my man, I'd-"

I laughed. I couldn't help it. It'd been so long since I'd met a woman who didn't know who I was. When you're on tour, the only people you see are people that either work with you, work for you or pay to come see you. This girl had no idea who I was or what I did. Perfect.

"You think Victoria is my girlfriend? She's my twin sister."

Bella's face dropped and she looked mortified as she looked over to Vic who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, that's me feeling like an idiot. I'm really sorry, Jasper."

"Hey now, don't worry about it. I like that you don't know who we are..." I let that sentence trail off as I sounded like an ass.

In the time it'd taken for me to turn into a bumbling idiot, everyone else seemed to have found a seat.

"So how long are you guys back in town, Vicky?" Asked Alice excitedly. I saw that she was still as bubbly as ever.

"We're not real sure to be honest, Ali. I guess it depends how much _fun_ we have while we're here."

_Oh, you did not just give me that look, Red!_

"Hmm, well, I guess we'll just have to make sure you have plenty then."

I glanced at Bella. She had a little crease between her eyebrows and she was gnawing on her bottom lip. She was worried? Confused, again? Whichever it is, she was cute as hell.

"What's got you chewing on your lip there, Sugar?" I leaned in to whisper in her ear. She clearly wasn't expecting it as she jumped slightly, then hummed throatily and shivered as my breath tickled her neck.

_Note to self, attention to her neck is good. I'll file that away for later..._

She turned to look at me from under those long lashes and smiled. "It's nothing. I'm just thinking."

"'Bout anythin' in particular?"

"A few things, actually. But nothing major."

She toyed with her glass as she looked back towards Alice and Vic. A little smile graced those shell pink lips but she hid it behind her glass as she drained the last of her drink.

"Will you excuse me, Jasper? I'm just going outside for a smoke."

"Sure thing, Darlin'."

"Hey Alice, you coming out for a smoke?"

With a smile and a shrug of her shoulders, she stood to grab her purse from the shelf behind the table and I was given the most amazing view.

Her tiny little waist and perfect hourglass figure was encased in the most sinful black pencil skirt and her long legs ended in black stiletto heels. _Well, fuck me_. With that blouse, all she'd need is a pair of glasses and she'd be the real-life personification of everyman's 'sexy secretary' fantasy.

Her body pressed against me as she slid past me, and damn if her pert breasts didn't skim the top of my head as she went. 'The Major' began to stir in my pants, as I watched her walk after Alice. It didn't escape my notice that there was plenty of room to move on the other side of her chair.

Little minx.

I smiled to myself, knowing that the picture of her luscious backside swaying as she walked will be one of the many images that are likely to keep me up (in more ways than one) when I got home later. As I turned back to the table, I saw Vic looking past me to where the two of them were walking with a look of pure lust in her eyes.

There was no way I could call her on it with everyone sitting there, so I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent her a quick text.

**I see that look, Red.**

**Is it Snow White or Tinkerbell that has you all worked up?**

I saw her grin out the corner of my eye as she read the message and soon her phone was back in her pocket and mine was buzzing.

**Brother, please. **

**As much as I would love to see how far that blush really spreads, Snow White is all yours.**

**That little pixie sure is all grown up now ;)**

She had a point there. The last three years had certainly treated Alice well. Although I had no idea if Victoria's particular brand of mischief was the same as hers.

My sister had never hidden the fact that she was interested in women. Though, it's not something she publicised either. She came out in her last year of college when she came home for Thanksgiving with her first girlfriend, Jane. They were only together for a few months, but Jane helped her a lot in that time. She'd been so worried about telling our folks, and though it took them a day or two to get used to the idea, they were fully supportive of her choice.

I had to stifle a chuckle as I typed my reply.

**She sure is. **

**Though, I'm not sure if she could handle a firecracker like you, Sis.**

**Are we getting the next round?**

I leaned back into my chair and took in the scene before me. It'd been years since I'd been in this bar, but it felt like I'd never left. It was as comfortable as it always was with Peter and Char; Emmett hadn't changed, except that while he used to have just a shit-eating grin plastered to his face, he now looked like the cat that got the cream, the canary _and_ the warm spot on the couch. And it all seemed to be because of Rose. He deserved it.

Before I could get too sappy, however, my phone buzzed once more.

**I'm sure she could handle me just fine.**

**I'm not sure if I want to just get crazy with her, though. **

**That girl is doing crazy things to me, brother.**

**Oh, and mine's a beer **

Well, I guessed I wasn't the only one with a woman on the brain. I glanced out of the window and spied Bella laughing with Alice. As I stood and headed for the bar, I resolved to make sure that I saw her laugh that way with me before the night was over.

Yep, I think I might just be in trouble here.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! Sorry for the delayed update, real life got in the way. Was my birthday at the weekend, but my Dad went in for surgery first thing Monday. **

**Anyhoo, as always I want to thank those of you who continue to read my story. Mxpi1970 your reviews crack me up. I love them, and I'm sorry for sending you to work all hot and bothered lol. ;) Mambomama, my awesome beta who has shown me that the amount of reviews you get aren't a true account of how many people are reading your story. A check in my email inbox sees me very happy to see I'm on so many people's alerts. So, a massive heartfelt thank you to all of you!**

So, some people may not like where one of the characters is heading, but I hope you will give it a chance. I've never seen this pairing so I hope you won't write me off for it. I don't want to apologise for it though. Let me know either way, but be nice please lol.x

**Oh, and lemons will come eventually, but as Mxpi1970 knows, my Jasper likes to tease... ;)**

_**Bella POV**_

"_Sure thing, Darlin'."_

I could get used to that. And when he whispered in my ear before? Lord, but I almost came right then from the feel of his breath against my oversensitive neck.

I was suddenly struck with the realization that I'd felt more attracted to Jasper in a few short minutes than I had in six months for Jake.

_What is wrong with me?_

"You ok, B?" Alice waved her hand in front of my face snapping me back to reality as we stepped outside.

"Sorry, yeah. I'm miles away I guess." I smiled as I set my drink down on a table and dug in my purse for my smokes and lighter.

"No, really Bella. Are you ok? About Jake, I mean?"

"Honestly, Alice? Yes. I really am. I know I should be upset, but I all I feel is relieved. We were together six months, shouldn't I have shed at least one tear?"

"Hard to shed a tear for your ex-boyfriend when you're perving over Jasper, B."

Ok, that was a little harsh.

"Excuse me?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"You heard me."

_Where the hell was this coming from?_

"Listen, I know you liked Jake, Ali. I also know that you don't particularly like the fact that I stayed with him for so long, Emmett told me. But _you_ were the one that told me I should give him a chance in the first place, Alice. _You_ were the one that said I shouldn't be quick to judge him, that if I gave him time, he might come to mean more to me. Well, I took your advice, and I ended up breaking his heart. So you can get down of your high horse, honey, because if I'd just listened to my own instincts in the first place, I'd have ended it months ago."

She looked like she wanted to speak, but I beat her to it.

"I love you, Ali, and I don't know where this is coming from all of a sudden, but don't act like I'm some horny tramp for finding Jasper attractive." I was getting seriously pissed, but I kept my voice low so the rest of the bar didn't hear. _I'd already learned that lesson today._

"It's not my fault he looks like a god damn angel, Alice. I realise that I might have been embarrassingly obvious when he first got here, but I know I'm not the only one. Rose's jaw dropped at the sight of him, and you looked like your eyes were going to pop out of your god damn head!"

"It wasn't because of him!" She hissed.

"What?"

"Oh, never mind." She was actually, huffing like a child. Ordinarily, I'd have been laughing my ass off at her, but not this time. Something had her Victoria's Secret underwear in a bunch and damn it she was going to tell me.

"Listen, if you're going to be pissy with me, you could at least tell me why. Where's all this anger coming from all of a sudden?"

She refused to look at me, but as I turned her to me she had tears in her eyes.

"Ali, honey, what's wrong?" All anger evaporated at the sight of those unshed tears.

"I just don't know what to do anymore, Bella. Just when I get my head on straight, you mess it up!"

_What the fuck?_ "Me? What do you mean?"

She sighed and wiped the tears from her cheeks before looking me straight in the eye.

"I _mean_ that I've been wanting to tell you something for months now. I just...didn't know how to say it. This isn't exactly the way I wanted to do it either, but I don't really have a choice anymore."

She seemed to brace herself, and I felt myself getting nervous.

"I'm gay, Bella."

I had no idea what to say or why this would make her angry with me, so I let her continue.

"No one else knows. I just couldn't tell anyone until I knew you were ok with it. The thought of not having your support kills me. I wasn't mad at the way you treated Jake. I know you tried to make it work with him. I was angry that I was having these feelings. Not just for a woman, but my best friend. I was angry at myself for entertaining the idea that you might feel the same."

A small smile pulled at her lips as she took a cigarette out of my pack and lit it.

"I thought I had feelings for you, Bella. But when _she_ walked in today, I realized that what I feel for you _is_ love, but I'm not _in_ love with you. You're my best friend and I confused that kind of love for attraction. I'm sorry. I guess I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole thing. I thought I had a handle on it, but she's really thrown me for a loop! It was bad enough when I thought I wanted you but couldn't have you, but then I'm struck dumb by her and couldn't say anything. The way she keeps looking at you is driving me crazy!"

I was happy to see her smiling, then. She seemed like a huge weight had been lifted from her tiny shoulders. Which, I guess it had.

"Alice. Did you really worry about telling me?" She nodded and it was my turn to light my cigarette.

"Honey, you're like a sister to me. I'm not saying I'm not a little surprised, I mean I had no idea. But it certainly doesn't change how I feel about you. Whether you want to be with a man or a woman, it doesn't make a difference. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters to me. As for her looking at me, I think she's just amused at my less than subtle appreciation of her brother."

She smiled a watery smile at me, and I stooped to give her a hug.

"So, you've a thing for Victoria, huh?" I nudged her and winked, and she cracked up laughing. "Well, I guess we're keeping it in the family then."

"Jasper is beautiful, B. Always has been. He seems fairly taken with you too, you know."

"I doubt he thinks of me as anything but an easily embarrassed girl with a serious case of word vomit. You know I thought Vic was his girlfriend? I know, mortified doesn't cover it – stop laughing!"

Between fits of giggles, she proceeded to tell me that she'd known them for a while, but that she'd never really gotten to know her that well. Something she was hoping to remedy, if they were going to be around for a while. Although she didn't know if Victoria was, um, that way inclined.

"Are you coming back in?"

"Yeah, you go ahead. I just need a minute."

"You're make-up still looks perfect, Ali." I grin. She stuck her tongue out at me, and I headed inside laughing.

I took a stealthy scan of the table and found that my Abercrombie Angel isn't there, but as I sat down, Victoria was grinning at me.

"Hey, Snow White." Her voice was soft, yet husky and her smile was genuine as she moved around the table to sit in the chair her brother had vacated. "He's at the bar getting the drinks in."

I must have looked a little embarrassed, but she just winked at me.

"Hey, don't go getting all shy on me now, Snow. One of you needs to have the balls to go for it, you know." Her laughter was just as infectious as her brother's and like before, I couldn't help but smile.

"So, you know Alice?" Her face didn't betray her curiosity, but I heard it in her voice.

"Yeah, she's my best friend. I've known her for about four years, and we've been sharing an apartment for the last three. She's amazing."

"That she is." I heard Victoria sigh a little as she glanced out of the window to where Alice stood with the phone to her ear. "I've known her for a few years, what with Jazz being so close to Emmett, but I've never really gotten a chance to get to know her."

"I take it you'd like to?" There was more to my question than perhaps she realizes as she turned back to me. But then again, maybe she knew exactly what I meant, as her smile turned into a devilish grin that reminded me of a cliché cartoon villain twirling his moustache. "Yes ma'am, I do."

_Hmm, I wonder if that accent does the same to Alice, as Jasper's does for me?_

As I share a chuckle with her, we heard the door close, and I turned to see Alice returning to the table. She only had eyes for Victoria, while Vic's eyes were scanning Alice from head to toe.

Lord almighty, I couldn't help but think that seduction must be passed on in the genes, because the Whitlock twins were walking a temptation, that's for damn sure!

Vic scooted over to the next seat as Alice approached, and I saw Alice blush slightly. As if Vic sensed that Ali was nervous, she leaned over to her and murmured, "I love your shoes, Ali Cat. Jimmy Choo, Spring Collection, right?"

My God, she spoke couture. Alice must be in heaven.

I couldn't help but wonder if Alice would have more in common with her than she'd thought?

**Ok, I know that was a short one, but it's just how it played out. I promise the next update will be soon just to make up for it! :D**

**Let me know what you think. **

**Red.x**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! Thanks so much for the reviews, I know you're all itchin' for some lemony goodness and your patience will be rewarded...eventually. Promise! **

**Big hello to Mxpi1970, slytheringrl17, kaylan101a and TwilightAddict71484!**

**Mambomama, my beautiful beta is a legend. Editing for a friend, Beta-ing me and probably others, and still having the time to make pies for Thanksgiving. What a woman!**

**I forgot my disclaimer for the last chapter, not that you guys need it really, but just in case...SM owns Twilight and it's characters, blah blah blah. **

_**Jasper POV**_

I was standing at the bar waiting for Edward to get around to serving me. The bar was busy, and I hadn't been waiting long, but I really wouldn't have minded if I had been. It made me feel like a regular guy for a change, not having everything handed to me before I'd even asked for it.

"Hey man, how are you?" Edward was standing in front of me with his hand out.

"Edward, it's been a while. I'm good thanks. You?" I said as I shook his hand. I might not know him all that well, but he was always a decent guy.

"Yeah I'm doing well thanks, man. Can't complain. It's good to see you. How long are you back for?"

"I don't know to be honest. We've been touring for eighteen months straight. We just wanted a break. Decompress for a while, you know?" He gave me a look like he didn't, but he could see where I was coming from. "Well, I guess you don't really, but that's the story. Guess we'll stay as long as we feel like it. Your mom found us the perfect house though. She did a great job. I swear she thinks of everythin'!"

He laughed as I gestured to the table to say 'I'm getting another round' and he began to mix the drinks.

"Yeah, that sounds like Mom. I can't believe she didn't tell us that you guys were coming into town. I guess you wanted to surprise us?"

We chatted for a little while longer, and I realized that Edward was a lot like Emmett. They're both hilarious, though Edward was more subtle than his big bear of a brother. He turned his back to me, and I took the opportunity to look over to our table, only to see Vic talking to Bella.

Vic was grinning ear to ear and Bella seemed to be fighting one herself. Her eyes were twinkling with mischief as she watched Vic lock eyes with Alice as the latter walked in from the smoking terrace. She smiled and suddenly she looked so happy and...proud? She was so beautiful in that moment that I didn't hear Edward return with the drinks.

"Beautiful isn't she?" He said, following my gaze.

"Victoria?" I asked, not quite sure who he was talking about.

"Well, yeah. But, I meant Bella." He was looking at her with fondness, and I felt a pang of jealousy.

"Stunning." Was all I could manage to say.

"You like her." It wasn't a question, but I didn't answer. "She's an amazing woman, Jasper. Smart, funny, and I have to say, sexy as hell."

Ok, now I had to say something.

"Aren't you _married_?" I never took him for a bad guy, but he sure was starting to sound a little too interested in my Bella.

_My Bella?_ Was that what I wanted? Yeah, I guess it was.

He rolled his eyes and sighed, "Yes, Jasper. I am very happily married, but just because I am, it doesn't make me blind. Don't give me the eyebrow, man. I'm not saying I'm interested in her that way, she's like my little sister. I do love her though, and I don't want to see her getting hurt."

"I wouldn't hurt her." I said more to myself than to Edward, but he heard me anyway.

"I'm sure you wouldn't, at least not intentionally."

"What does that mean? Just because I'm a musician, I must sleep around? That's horseshit, Edward. I'm not sayin' I don't get offers, but that's just not who I am. My momma raised me right, and if you don't believe me, you can ask my sister."

"Whoa, man. Slow down! I only meant that if you two did get together, she might find it tough with you being on the road so much, that's all. Peter and Char always have nothing but good things to say about you, and I know for a fact that Emmett wouldn't let you anywhere near his Rose if you were some sort of man-whore."

We both cracked up after the 'man-whore' comment and all tension was gone. He really did just seem to be looking out for her. We both looked over to her and she was looking right at us with a little crease between her eyebrows again. She looked concerned, and I realized she must have seen our little misunderstanding.

I smiled to reassure her that we were fine, but she got up and walked over to us. Jesus, did she even realize how sexy she was? Those swaying hips and the way she looked up through her lashes after scanning the floor quickly to make sure there was nothing in her way.

_Shit..._

"Focus, dude." Edward whispered as she moved to stand next to me. _Mmm__ she smells good..._

_Good god, Whitlock. Get a grip!_

"You boys ok over here?" She asked looking between the two of us before raising an eyebrow at Edward.

"We're fine, B. Jasper was just telling me what a great job Mom did on their house." God he was a smooth son of a bitch.

The eyebrow was slowly travelling further up her head as she clearly didn't believe him.

I realized I could try to say something clever, but I got the feeling that she ain't the type of girl that falls for pick up lines and such. Fuck it, I'd just tell her the truth and if she didn't like me as I was, I wasn't interested.

Who was I kidding, of course I'd still be interested.

"Edward was just makin' sure my intentions were honourable." I smiled at the confused look on her face and the surprised, yet impressed look on Edward's. I guess he wasn't expecting me to tell her.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that I think you're the most stunnin' creature I've ever had the good fortune to meet."

Her blush was instantaneous and darker than I'd ever seen it, and she quickly hid behind a curtain of her long mahogany hair. I slowly reached up and pushed her hair back, tucking it behind her ear. I trailed the tips of my fingers along her jaw until I had her chin between my thumb and the side of my forefinger.

I gently tilted her chin up so she was looking at me with those deep, chocolate eyes.

"Please don't ever hide that beautiful face from me, Darlin'.

We were just standing there, looking into each other's eyes. Neither of us seemed to be able to look away. Well, I couldn't at least. My thumb was lightly caressing her cheek, and she was leaning into my hand.

She was perfect.

A loud clearing of a throat snapped us out of our trance, and we looked around to see that Emmett stood next to us with his arms folded across his chest and a 'What the fuck is going on here?' expression on his face. Peter was standing next to him with a shit-eatin' grin on his face, and behind the bar, Edward was standing there with a crooked grin to match Peter's.

"You wanna get some air, Darlin'?"

"Um...yeah, sure." She seemed excited, if a little dazed as I handed her the drink Edward indicated to be hers. I picked up mine and took her hand, leading her to the door. I could feel the eyes following us as we walked and heard Emmett demanding to know _'what the fuck was that?' _but I ignored them.

Bella was holdin' my hand.

Her hand was so small, but the feeling of it inside mine was unreal. I could feel her looking at me with bright eyes as we headed for the smoking terrace. Was it possible there could be something between us? As we walked she gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

It was only a small gesture, but it was a start.

**Well there you go, hope you liked. Let me know either way!**

**Red.x**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hey! So I just want to say (again) a massive thank you to all of you who have put me on alert. You guys are amazing and I grin like a fool everytime I check my inbox. Be great to hear from more of you, your reviews are WIN! **_

_**Speaking of, big hellos as always to slytheringrl17, ericsfan and Mxpi1970 You ladies are awesome and I love hearing from you. Also a big hi to WildWhitlock, and hlleopard who has just found this story and was sweet enough to leave me a review. **_

_**My Beta Mambomama is, as ever, amazing. She makes me laugh and doesn't get mad when I forget to use the US version of s**__**pellcheck! lol**_

_**Bella POV**_

Well, this is...well, I don't really have the words to sum up how I feel about what's just happened. Now, I am fully aware that it's bad form to go from one relationship to someone else so quickly. I actually think less than an hour is probably more than a little extreme.

But hearing him announce that he's attracted to me, in front of the guys no less, turned my insides to a quivering mess of embarrassment and lust. So when he tilted my chin up to look at his beautiful face, I was powerless to resist when he took my hand and began to walk me outside.

He opened the door and motioned for me to go through first and I realised that all his charm and smooth words weren't an act. He really was a fine Southern gentleman.

_Though if he ever gets the urge to act less than gentlemanly in the bedroom, well that'd be just fine by me._

However, we were now outside and I was at a loss for words. He sat at one of the tables and gently pulled me down to sit next to him on the bench.

"Did I embarrass you back there, Sugar?" He asked, still holding my hand softly.

"Not _too_ much. You did surprise me though." I chuckled lightly.

"That a fact?" _Oh God, that smile._

I took a long pull from my drink as I tried to get my head together. It's quite pathetic that my mental acuity seems to decrease dramatically in his presence. That kind of crap is only supposed to happen in romance novels.

I don't know how long my mind had just wandered for, but when I snapped out of my thoughts, he'd got out his pack of Marlboros, lit one and left the pack with one cigarette poking out and the lighter in front of me.

"Thank you." He simply nodded his head slightly in acknowledgement and I imagined him repeating that gesture with a Stetson on his head. _Yum..._

We were quiet for a few minutes, and I worried that he'd forget whatever it was that attracted him to me in the first place.

"So, you went to school with Peter and Emmett?" I asked, turning slightly to face him.

"Yeah, Vic and I have known Peter since we moved up from Austin at the start of 7th grade. He's my brother, far as I'm concerned. And Emmett, well Peter and I met him in our freshman year at UDub. He's a goofy ass, but he's about the most trustworthy man I ever met."

"You said you and Peter met him, what about Victoria?"

"She and I went to two different colleges. When you're a twin, you kind of always come as a pair. As much as we love each other, we decided to try and find our own identity away from each other. It sounds like all kinds of psychology crap, I know. But it was good for us. Hard, obviously, but I think it did us good in the end."

"She's great. At least from what I've spoken to her so far. I sort of left her and Alice to it. They're getting on, um...very well."

I wasn't going to say anything about Alice's desire for his sister, but the smirk that flits briefly across his face, may mean he's noticed already.

"So do you know Angela as well then?"

"Is she the quiet girl?" I nodded and he continued "No, never met her or her boyfriend until tonight. Why d'you ask?"

"Well, when you walked in, she knew you're name. In fact, she looked like a deer in headlights as soon as she caught sight of you."

He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes this time, and I wondered what it was I said that seemed to have upset him.

"I take it she likes Country music?" He mumbled.

"Yeah, she does. Her dad's a preacher from Georgia, he moved up here to be with her mom. I guess she grew up listening to it and still does today. I've only heard some of her latest favourites when I've been in the car with her or whatever."

I was painfully aware that I was rambling, but I couldn't stop god damn talking. I was mortified on the inside, but he hadn't shut me up yet. I took it as a good sign.

"Yeah, I'm actually more of a rock music kind of girl. My dad used to play his old vinyl records when he was at home. You know classics like Rolling Stones and AC DC, The Who stuff like that. I don't mind some Country though. Lady Antebellum, Jace Everett and, oh crap, what's the name of that last band she had me listening to?"

_Oh, brilliant. I can't even remember the name of the band now? Jasper-Induced-Stupidity strikes again. _

"Fight or Flight, that's it! Now, that band I do like. She has such a beautiful voice. The music is more on the rock side of the fence too, so it suits me down to the ground. The guitar riffs are amazing. I told her I'd go see them with her if she ever got tickets, but she said they hadn't set any tour dates in Washington."

He was chuckling slightly to himself as I droned on and I figured he was amused by my lack of conversational skills.

"Fight or Flight, huh?" He asked, looking into my eyes for the first time since I mentioned Angela.

Those gorgeous, blue I'm-going-to-need-a-clean-pair-of-panties-if-he-keeps-looking-at-me-like-that eyes. I blink and shift in my seat slightly.

"Um, yeah. Have you heard of them?"

"You could say that." He took a sip of his drink, effectively ending that conversation. Which I thought was a little strange, but he seemed to relax as he began to ask about our little group.

He asked how we all knew each other and how long I'd known Alice. He asked what it was that we did at Newton & Crowley (I told him we did as little as we could possibly get away with), then he asked about my Dad.

I had to swallow hard before answering. I still have trouble talking about him.

"What did I say wrong, Sugar?" His brow furrowed and he placed one of his warm hands against my cheek, wiping the tear that had escaped before I could stop it.

"My Dad, Charlie, was the Forks Chief of Police. He died almost four months ago. He was called out to a disturbance at a house just out of town. On the way there, a motorcyclist came flying round a blind bend on the wrong side of the road. My Dad swerved and missed the motorbike but the car flipped as it hit the side of the road. He died before the ambulance got to him."

I was in his arms before I even realised it and, though I knew I should be horrified that I was crying on this relative stranger's, admittedly lovely, broad shoulder, I clung to him and tried to stem the flow of tears before I made myself look like I had a severe case of Pink Eye.

"Sssssh, Darlin'. I got you. You're ok." He held me close and rubbed soothing circles on my back until I calmed myself enough to pull away.

"Damn. I'm so sorry, Jasper."

"Hey, don't apologise. I wouldn't have asked if I'd had any idea. It's my fault."

I attempted to make myself as presentable as possible without a mirror and make-up bag, before downing the remainder of my drink.

"Mmmm. Jack makes everything better." I joke feebly.

"Sure does, Sugar." His warm smile melted the icy feeling that always settles over me when I think about Charlie, and I stood up to straighten my skirt. I could hear the familiar Friday sound of a guitar being tuned up on the stage and I turned back to Jasper.

"Hey, I can hear the first of the bands starting to warm up. Do you want to go back inside and listen?"

"Sure. Do you guys usually listen to the music here?"

"Yeah, that's why that table is always _our table_. It has the best view of the stage." He looked puzzled for a moment, until I explained. "We're in here a lot."

He just chuckled as he stood, and taking my hand, we walked back inside.

Back at the table, everyone seemed to have angled their chairs so that they were facing the stage. Victoria and Alice were still deep in conversation. Angela and Ben were whispering excitedly to each other and the rest of them were wearing matching smirks as they spotted us walking back to them.

I gave them Rose's patented 'bitch brow' but they still sat there grinning like fools. Thankfully Jasper was chuckling quietly to himself, so I suppressed the urge to flip them off.

"And where have you two been all this time?" Peter asked, his voice full of mock seriousness.

"We were outside having a smoke, Peter. That _is_ what that terrace is for, you know." I answered, trying desperately to ignore Rose and Char as they gave me the 'we want details' look.

_Lord help me..._

"Bella?"

_Oh lord_, _here it comes..._

"It's my turn for to get the drinks in. Why don't you come and help me carry them?" Rose has never been subtle, but that was obvious, even for her. "Char, why don't you come, too?"

"Smooth guys, real smooth." I hissed at the two giggling witches as they dragged me (literally) to the bar.

Rose spun to face me as Char came to stand beside her. "Spill it, Biatch."

"Spill what exactly?" _Maybe if I played dumb, they'd drop it._

"Bella Marie Swan." Rose threatened, as she leant over the bar to gesture to Edward that we wanted another round of drinks.

"Yeah, you know god damn well what, B." Char was trying to look intimidating, but the Peter-esque, shit eating grin on her face ruined it for her. "What's going on between you and Jasper?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, I am so calling bullshit on that, Bella." Rose scoffed.

"I'm serious, guys. Don't look at me like that! I'm not saying I'm not attracted to him. That would be crazy because that man is all kinds of hot." They both sighed in agreement then turned their attention back to me. "But give me a break! I only broke up with Jake just over an hour ago. Well, technically, he broke up with me. Either way, I'm not going to launch myself at him...well not tonight anyway."

The three of us burst into peels of raucous laughter and I knew they'd let it drop for now. I would undoubtedly get the third degree when it was just us girls though. There would be no escaping that.

I snuck a glance at the table, to see everyone relaxed and chatting to each other like always. You'd never know that the Whitlocks were new additions to the group.

Angela was uncharacteristically animated as she spoke. She seemed to be excited by something Jasper and Victoria were talking about. It was nice to see her that way, she was normally so shy around strangers.

Jasper looked up and seemed to be searching the room for something. Then his eyes settled on me, and that sexy grin spread across his face as he tipped his glass towards me. I smiled as I felt my cheeks flush and bit my bottom lip unconsciously. He inclined his head to tell me to come back to the table and I nodded and held up one finger in a 'one minute' gesture. My breath caught in my throat as he winked, before turning his attention back to the conversation going on around him.

"You know we're going to grill you for more details later." Char whispered in my ear as she caught our little exchange.

"I had a feeling you would, Char." I sighed, distractedly.

The band finished warming up and was introducing themselves as Char and I turned to pick up the two trays of drinks that Rose was in the process of paying for. I was about to take my first step towards our table when Rose stopped me and took the tray out of my hands.

"Oh, no you don't, lady. I'm not paying for a round of drinks only to have your clumsy ass drop them just because you were too busy staring at the hot cowboy over there to watch where you're putting your feet."

Well that's just insulting.

But sadly, entirely possible.

**Well, what do you think my lovelies?xx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello! Sorry for the delay in updating, my lovelies. Between the crazy snow and everyone in my house getting sick, it's been a little mad here. Thanks to those who asked after my Dad, he's on the mend now, though he's going a little stir crazy at not being able to do much just yet.**

**As always, a massive hug for my Beta Mambomama. Also a big 'Hi' to MandaRaeWhitlock, slytheringrl17, and damnselle. As well as Mxpi1970, who's reviews are always comedy genius and I love them!**

**We all know that I do not own these characters. I just love this crooning cowboy. **

_**Bella POV**_

As it turned out, Rose was more than justified in suggesting that I'd drop the tray. I made it over to the table just fine, but as I stepped to the side of my chair, my heel caught on the strap of my handbag that I'd left on the floor, and I landed rather unceremoniously (and admittedly, rather enjoyably) on Jasper's lap.

Should it be possible to be simultaneously mortified and turned on? I'm sure that it shouldn't, but I had been nonetheless.

The rest of the night passed in a blur of jokes, drinks and music. The girls, including Vicky, danced and shook our respective asses much to the appreciation of the guys, who would occasionally join us, but mostly stuck to whooping and ogling.

Even Edward managed to join us for half an hour towards the end of the night. He'd sat laughing along with the rest of us, as Emmett demonstrated his self-proclaimed 'just-like-Usher-prowess' on the dance floor. In reality, he looked like the big guy trying to dance in the film 'Hitch'. Suffice to say, Rose's face spent a long time connected to the palm of her hand until Peter dragged him back to the table.

The band finished playing and the bar cleared, but as usual, we hadn't made the slightest effort to leave. Traditionally, the hour or so after the bar closed on a Friday was the time we decided whose house we were headed to for more drinks and the inevitable ordering of a mountain of junk food. I mean let's face it, we did have Emmett with us...

"I vote for Alice and Bella's!" boomed Emmett, who was still seemingly incapable of regulating the volume of his voice.

"You only want to come to ours, because of the Jade Dragon, Em." Alice sighed.

The Jade Dragon, was arguably the best Chinese take-out restaurant in the area. It just so happened, that it was only a block away from our apartment, and we'd pass it if we walked home.

"And your point is, Ali?" He grinned.

The discussion over who wanted to go where and what we would order saw us through two more rounds of drinks, until Edward finally started grumbling about having 'a hot wife at home waiting up for him'.

We took that as our cue to leave.

It seemed that the guys (barring Emmett) wanted pizza, while the girls wanted Chinese. So the guys called a cab to go back to Emmett and Rose's place, while we began the ten minute walk to our apartment. After Emmett made Rose promise to get him something anyway.

_How that man isn't obese is truly beyond me._

The walk to our place took no time at all as we were, for the majority of the journey, in hysterics listening to Rose explain to Vicky just how much her husband can eat. Vicky had tears pouring down her face as she, in turn, explained to us that Esme had devoted an entire cupboard of their new kitchen to food for Emmett.

We ordered our food (and Emmett's) on our way home also stopping at the local liquor store for supplies. When we got home I was, once again, supremely thankful to Alice for insisting we get a full sofa set instead of two 'La-Z-Boy' arm chairs like I had suggested at the time.

The six of us were finally sat down with all our food on the coffee table in the middle of us. It was oddly quiet while we ate, with 'Mmmm' and 'Can you pass the...' being the most any of us managed between mouthfuls.

However, the food was soon gone and the drinks began flowing once more. I left the room to take the empty food cartons to the kitchen, and when I returned, Vicky seemed to be in the middle of explaining why she and Jasper had returned to Washington.

"...So we finished our second tour a few weeks ago and decided to come back here and take some time off before we start work on the new album." Vicky explained, as she showed Angela what I assumed to be photos on her iPhone.

"Album?" I asked, a little confused, "You and Jasper are in a band?"

Everyone was looking at me with various confused expressions on their faces except Angela, who looked like she was about to develop a serious case of facepalm.

"Um, yeah," Vicky answered with a smirk, "didn't he tell you?"

"No, he didn't."

"Bella, how could you not know they they were famous? You've listened to their last album with me in the car enough times." Angela scolded, looking mortified that I clearly didn't know I who I was sitting with.

"Wait, Vicky. Is that what he meant when he mumbled something about liking that I didn't know who you two were? When I mentioned that Angela looked like a deer in headlights when he walked in? – Ouch! What? I'm sorry, Ang. But you did, it was hilarious."

"Like your jaw wasn't on the floor too, Bella." Angela grumbled as she took an uncharacteristically long pull from her drink to hide her embarrassment.

All eyes turned to me, and Vicky did nothing to hide the knowing grin that she'd worn in the bar earlier.

"Yeah, yeah. We're all aware of my less than subtle appreciation of Jasper. Himself included, I'm sure." I sighed, suddenly finding the bottom of my glass very interesting.

"Now, come on, Snow. I told you earlier not to be shy. You like him, he likes you. What's the big deal?"

I shuddered. _There's that phrase again..._

"The big deal is that I split with my boyfriend about an hour before you two walked into the bar tonight. I can't just go from one guy to another so quickly, can I?"

It had been a rhetorical question, but of course, these were my girls. Naturally they had to answer it anyway.

"So what, B? Your heart hadn't been in it with Jake for months." Char shrugged.

_Way to make me sound like a bitch there, Char..._

"Yeah, you obviously like him, Bella. More than you ever liked Jake." Angela agreed.

_Once again, thank you..._

"Come on, Biatch. Grow a pair. It's just us here. We all know you want to. Christ, I thought for a second you were going to jump him when he first walked in!" Rose chuckled as she dodged the cushion I threw at her.

_Jesus!_

"Nice, Rose. Real nice. Sorry, Vicky." I was mortified.

As if _you'd_ want to hear about some woman you just met wanting to jump _your brother_?

"S'okay, Bella. There's always women fallin' all over themselves for him." She must have seen the look on my face as she continued, "Not that you were, honey. You wouldn't believe some of the crap I've seen girls do to get in his pants. But he's just not been interested. 'Til tonight, that is." She winked.

The others began whooping and whistling as that damn blush crept up my neck and colored my cheeks, which only added to the laughter.

"Okay, okay. Can it, you guys. You never did tell me what band you two were in."

I really didn't care that he was supposedly famous or not, he was just a good guy, but I was getting bored of everyone taking the piss out of me.

Before Vicky could answer, Angela actually squealed. "They're Fight or Flight, Bella!"

_Ah..._

That would explain her dropping of the F-bomb earlier. She loved this band.

Then it hit me that I'd mentioned liking their music earlier, and that I'd forgotten what they were called.

"Oh, God. You know I actually mentioned that I liked your band earlier? He never said a word. Was he just checking that I wasn't a crazed fan like Angela?" I giggled as she looked to Vicky, embarrassed that I'd outted her.

"Probably. Though I think it meant a lot to him that you liked him without knowin' who he was.

She smiled a genuine smile at me, with no trace of humor and I returned it without saying anything further about it.

"What about you, Vicky. Are you seeing anyone special?" Alice asked tentatively.

"Not right now, Ali. I have got my eye on someone though." She smiled, with a wink at Alice. Nobody else noticed, but I saw it. Alice's grin widened even more.

"Well, lucky them." She grinned as she stood from the sofa and made her way to the kitchen. "Anyone need a refill?"

We all nodded 'yes' as Vicky stood up, too.

"Sounds like you could use an extra pair of hands, Ali."

"I do, Vicky. Thanks."

The two of them grinned as they walked out of the room to the kitchen.

"Well, I like her." Rose announced, as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Yeah, she's great." Char smiled. "It's a good job, too, because Peter loves those two like his own flesh and blood."

"That's exactly how Jasper described it." I said, smiling at the memory. "He said he was their brother as far as they were concerned. I think he's genuinely relieved to be back with you guys again. Think he missed Peter and Emmett a lot."

"Well, lord knows Peter missed him." Char smiled, sadly.

"Emmett, too." Rose agreed.

Just then Rose's phone buzzed in her bag.

"Speak of the devil," she laughed "probably checking that we remembered his food."

She was quiet for a few minutes as she read, what seemed to be a very long text message, before she burst into a fit of laughter, clutching the phone to her chest as she tried to calm herself down.

"What's so funny, Rose?"

She was still too far gone to speak. I decided to get up and put some music on. It took a few minutes rummaging around my handbag to realize that I must have left my iPod at work.

_Just one of the many things we have at work that we're not supposed to..._

"Damn. My I left my iPod at the office."

"I have mine with me, B." Angela said as she pulled hers out of her bag and got up to hook it up to the docking station.

Rose seemed to have calmed down now, though her eyes were watering still.

"Jesus, Rose. You okay now?" Char giggled.

"Yeah. Emmett just texted me." She smirked and handed the phone to Char who doubled up herself after reading the seemingly hilarious message.

"Is it a private joke? Or are you going to tell us what's so funny, Rose?" I asked, amused at the effort it was taking Rose to keep a straight face.

"Well, apparently, you and Jasper have been the topic of the night over there. Poor guy has been interrogated about his little display at the bar before he took you outside."

"What?" I shrieked, truly mortified. "But nothing even happened!"

_Fuck! He's never going to want anything to do with me if he gets the third degree just from talking to me. Fan-fucking-tastic, Em. Thanks!_

"Calm down, Biatch. Only dogs can hear you when you're being that high pitched." Rose chided, rolling her eyes.

"So what horrifyingly embarrassing things was your husband saying to him about me?" I glared at her.

"He didn't say, other than that they told him that you and Jake had only just finished and that if he was interested in you, he better mean it – oh, come on, B. You know how protective of you he is."

"That's all he said?" I asked, immediately suspicious as that could not be what was so hilarious.

I hadn't noticed Char get up until Rose looked past me and nodded.

Char was standing at the docking station behind me, literally biting her cheeks to stop herself from laughing.

_Yeah, whatever he said, I think I may be about to find out_. I'm also certain that I'm going to end up wanting to junk-punch the big lug the next time I see him.

"Well, it's not so much what he's said to Jasper, B. More that he asked me to pass on a message to you."

_Oh. Shit._

Rose held out the phone to me and I walked over to take it. The screen still held Emmett's text.

**Rosieeeeeeee! **

**Me and P had the talk with J. He tried to play it down, but that boy has it bad!**

**Been giving him shit all night about his little Harlequin romance novel moment back at the bar! LMFAO!**

**Has B admitted to wanting to jump him yet? It's obvious to all but him, apparently. **

**I mean WTF, right? She does know that he saw her eye-fucking him right? Man, that shit was hilarious! **

**Do me a favor and tell B that there's nothing vanilla about saving a horse!**

**Love you, Babe!**

I stared at the phone for a full minute before looking slack-jawed at Rose. As Char hit play and everyone burst out laughing once again, as Big & Rich's "Save a horse, Ride a cowboy" came blaring out of the speakers.

"You guys are bitches, you know that?" I sighed, trying to my best to give them the bitch-brow but failing miserably as I headed to the kitchen.

Still shaking my head at Emmett's jackasshattery, I opened the door to a sight I was not expecting, but was thrilled to see.

Vicky was tucking a strand of hair behind Alice's ear. Alice looked so happy at that moment. They were staring into each other's eyes with such focus that they didn't notice me come in.

I quickly grabbed the bottle of Patrón that Char had bought on our way back earlier, and left them to their moment.

**So there you are. Hope you enjoyed! The word 'jackasshattery' comes courtesy of Mambomama, so thanks, bb!x**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey! Well, it's nearly Xmas and I am in no way ready for it, lol. I've been writing instead of wrapping presents and signing cards...oops, don't tell the hubster!**

**Sorry to have kept you lovelies waiting for the next chapter, I couldn't get any time to sit down and put it into words. But here it is, and thanks to Mambomama my legend of a Beta, it's up sooner than I was expecting.**

**Please don't feel cheated with this chapter, you'll see why at the end ;) I promise the next one has a hint of the citrus y'all have been waiting for. :D**

**As ever, thank you to you all for reading, a massive thanks to the lovelies who took the time to review and a special Jasper shaped thank you to PurpleKisses and stephibaby, my newest reviewers and LithiumReaper, Liamsgurl33 and slytheringrl17. Mxpi1970, you my dear, are the shizz! Lmfao.**

**Usual disclaimer stuff, I don't own anything. Much as I'd like to. _Mmmm...Jasper..._**

_**Jasper POV**_

_Aw, shit..._

My head feels like I've gone ten rounds with Tyson and the light coming through the window is making me feel like I got red-hot pokers stuck in my eyes.

_Damn tequila._

It takes a while, but I eventually manage to open my eyes. Well, I say open them, I parted my eyelids just enough to figure out where I was laying, because judging by the damn crick in my neck, I wasn't in the bed I'd been so looking forward to sleepin' in.

Dark brown leather under me, deep red wall in front of me and – Gah!

A huge bare foot was dangling about three inches from my face. _Gross._

I'd woken up sprawled across the leather couch in the den with Emmett having passed out on the matching arm chair. Only, due to his mammoth size, he was too big to fit in it properly, so he ended up laying across it, hence the fact that I almost got a toe in my eye.

_Oh, God...Please tell me I didn't sleep with my mouth open...Not cool._

A low groan alerts me to the fact that there's someone next to me. Ben is still asleep on the couch beside me so where the hell is that noise coming from?

Ah. Peter is coming round, lying on my coffee table.

_Jesus..._

"Urrrgh...Whitlock?" He groaned, "What the hell did we do last night? My head is god damn killing me – ooof!"

Even in my extremely hung-over state, Peter fallin' off that table still had me laughin' my ass off. Though, the answering splitting of my skull soon put a stop to it.

"Not funny, man..." he grumbled as he tried to sit himself up.

"It really was, Pete." I answered, gripping the sides of my head as if that would stop the pain.

"What's going on?" Ben whispered as he, too, began to come around from the booze coma we all seemed to have fallen into.

"We're in the den, though I don't remember any of us passing out." Peter mumbled, apparently not quite able to stand the volume of his normal voice.

"Oh man, Ang is gonna kill me. I'm supposed to be going with her to her folk's house for lunch today. Ugh, you guys, I need coffee."

I managed to pry myself off the couch and stumble towards the kitchen. I stood looking around the roomfor five minutes until I saw the coffee machine. Apparently, my hangover prevented my brain from performing simple functions like recognizing what a coffee machine looked like.

I lifted the lid to discover that there was a filter already in it with the sachet sitting just inside.

_Thank you, again, Esme._

I got it going, and before long, there was a steaming pot of delicious smelling coffee ready and three mugs on the table. Emmett could just get one when he came to.

As the smell of java filtered through the house, and I was soon joined by a shabby looking Ben and a zombie-looking Peter.

Wow, Peter with red eyes is scary. It's like looking at the hairy dude from that movie 'The Hangover' when they first wake up in the morning. _At least Pete has his damn pants on..._

Two cups each later, and the three of us are feeling slightly more human.

"How in the hell, are we up at 9:20am? Did we even get back here before 3?" Peter asked, after checking his watch, then his phone, then the clock on the kitchen wall. Clearly, he wasn't convinced that it was the actual time.

"I have no idea, man." I answered truthfully, because I really didn't.

As we sat in silence, trying to wrestle with our hangovers, my mind wandered back to last night. Emmett and Peter had ripped into me somethin' fierce about my obvious thing for Bella. And once Emmett had convinced himself that I wasn't 'chasing tail', he'd been just as bad as Peter about me already being pussy-whipped.

I told them they were talking shit, that Bella was a sweet girl and that I enjoyed talkin' to her and that was it. They just kept going on about a 'Harlequin romance novel moment' whatever the hell that meant.

They did say that she'd literally just broken up with someone before we got to the bar last night. And that if I was planning on going for it with her, I should keep that in mind.

I was just remembering that Emmett had texted Rosalie, and that her reply had him and Pete falling all over themselves laughin', though they wouldn't tell me what she'd said.

_Assholes._

The sound of a car pulling up woke us out of our mental time-out, and a minute or two later, we heard the front door open and quiet voices fill the hallway.

"Jazz?" Vic hollered as we heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen.

"Jeez, Red. Think you could take it down a decibel or two?" I mumbled as she rounded the corner.

"Ouch, brother. You boys look as bad as we feel." She chuckled and helped herself to a cup of coffee. "Damn...Miss Esme thinks of everything, huh?"

"Sure does. Hey, didn't you come in with someone?" Only Vic had appeared in the kitchen.

"Yeah, Rose went to find Emmett. "Said she'd find him if she just followed the snoring."

"Is that it?"

"Nah, Char's here too. Guess she thought you'd still be asleep, Petey."

"Wish I fucking was, Vic." He chuckled, rubbing his eyes.

"Morning boys!" Char and Rose chorused on their way into the kitchen. "Ooh, sorry." They apologized in a whisper as we glared at them for being so loud.

"What did you boys do last night?" Rose laughed, "I can't even get Emmett to open his eyes."

"Not really sure ourselves, Rose." Ben answered, between yawns.

"Well," began Char, "we were thinking of heading out for some breakfast. Ali-"

"-DID SOMEONE SAY BREAKFAST?" Emmett yelled from the other room, and we all laughed.

Sure...Bright sunlight, coffee and his wife physically trying to wake him up does nothing. Mention the prospect of food, however, and he's live and kickin'. Unbelievable.

Fifteen minutes later, and the boys have freshened up, I've had a very quick shower, a change of clothes and we're now waiting for the girls. Vic wanted a shower, same as me, and the other two wanted to freshen up as there was apparently a queue for the shower at the girls' place.

Another ten minutes later – which honestly was sooner than I was expectin' – we were lockin' up and heading to the cars.

Vic had driven my truck back home. I'm guessin' she and the girls had walked back to the bar to pick it up this mornin'.

_How in the hell had they managed to do that after the night we'd all had?_

Vic's car had been delivered while we were out, and she was currently circling her baby, checking for any sign of damage. Char was laughing at her while Rose was gushing about the performance of the beloved 2008 Dodge Super Challenger.

Vic had wanted a muscle car ever since she was little, thanks to her slight obsession with The Dukes of Hazzard. (Not that she knew more than how to change a tire...) However, though the 'General Lee' was a Dodge Charger, she'd always preferred the Challenger. So, after our music really took off, that was her one extravagance that she'd allowed herself. (Apparently, her many pairs of shoes were a _necessity_ not an obsession...Right.)

Suffice to say, the girls all piled into Vic's pride and joy, and we boys clambered into the cab of my truck, and we all headed to the nearest Denny's.

Apparently, it had been tradition on a Saturday mornin' for the last few months since they'd stumbled in there after an all night session on Emmett's last birthday. The waitress had evidently taken quite a shine to him and Peter and had given them extra helpings at no extra charge. I was surprised that Rose and Char had agreed to keep going if some woman was sweet on their men, but according to Peter, the woman was in her early fifties and so they didn't mind.

There was an old Chevy pick-up parked up by the door when we arrived, and I noticed that though it was old, it seemed that it was obviously loved by the owner as it was clean, the tires looked new and the grill was still shiny.

On entering, Barb, an older woman with a warm smile and a pen tucked behind her ear greeted us all with a wave and gestured to 'the usual spot' which turned out to be an apparently empty booth in far corner of the restaurant.

Except when we got over to it, it wasn't empty at all.

Alice, Angela and Bella were already sitting there, and after a chorus of 'hello's and 'how are you feeling's, we all attempted to fit ourselves into the booth, which was not an easy task. I ended up at the end of one side of the table with Peter on the other.

Bella seemed to be blushing already, and we'd only been here five minutes. I wondered what the hell had her so embarrassed already. Though, I noticed that her blush made her look a damn sight more human than the rest of us.

Breakfast went by quickly, with the chatter of last night being replaced with eating and the sounds of cutlery on plates. God knows how much coffee and orange juice we went through between us, but I saw that Barb had started brewing an extra pot. Emmett clearly relished the extra helpings as he'd cleared two 'Meat lovers' breakfasts, including the two separate plates of pancakes that came with them.

_Where the hell does he put it?_

As I was staring at Emmett, wonderin' how exactly he wasn't the size of a house, I heard Bella giggle and saw her and Char whispering to each other.

"Hey guys, can you let us out?" Char asked, looking like she was trying not to laugh.

Rose, Emmett and I slid out of the booth to let them pass, and I watched Bella as she walked to the ladies' room with Char.

"Hope that's not my wife's ass your eyes are following there, Whitlock," sniggered Peter.

"Fuck off, Petey." I grumbled as I slid back into my seat after the other two.

I was just taking a long sip of my coffee and contemplating how I could get away with having Bella squeeze past me to get back to her place when she and Char came back.

"Move your butt, Peter. I'm not moving everyone again." Char grinned as she playfully shoved his shoulder to get him to slide over for her.

He did as she asked, and Angela passed her drink over to her.

"You wanna just sit here, Bella?" I asked, trying to ignore the shit-eatin' grins plastered across Peter and Char's faces. _Fuckers._

"Sure. Thanks, Jasper."

I moved over, like Peter had done, and Rose passed her drink to her.

I was acutely aware that our legs were touching, and if I'm honest, I was trying really hard to ignore the fact that her v-necked t-shirt was giving me a dynamite view of her cleavage.

_Do not look. Do not look. No, Whitlock, do not look!_

She wasn't helping any as she kept reaching past me to get to the sugar or the others' cups when it came time for a refill.

_Does she know how much she's teasin' me?_

At one point, she reached around behind me to swat Emmett on the back of the head, and her breasts pressed into my side. And from the smirk on her face as she heard me clear my throat in a vain attempt to keep my thoughts out of the gutter, she knew exactly what she was doing.

_Minx._

Last thing I needed was to have 'The Major' attempting to salute her when I stood up.

Angela and Ben left a little while later to get ready for lunch with her folks, with Rose and Char practically dragging Peter and Emmett out of the door before they could order anything else. Which left Alice, Vic, Bella and myself.

"So, Bella and Alice have offered to help us get the house finished, so I thought two of us could go get the groceries and other stuff while the other two go back to the house and unpack. What'd you think?"

"Sounds like a plan, Red." I certainly wasn't looking forward to the unpacking or the shopping, but the prospect of spendin' the day with Bella made it a hell of a lot more appealin'.

"I figured that Ali and I would go back to the house. I sure as hell am not havin' you unpackin' my smalls, brother." Vic giggled, and I couldn't help but agree.

"Works for me." I answered, smiling at Bella. "Want me to get any paint to decorate the spare rooms?"

"Nah, we got plenty of time to do that."

We finished our drinks and headed out, after saying a quick goodbye to Barb.

"Um, what about my truck?" Bella asked, stopping by the old Chevy I'd seen earlier.

"Why don't we drive to your place so you can drop it off?" I replied. Realising that I was curious to find out where she lived.

_Jeez, Whitlock...What are you, a stalker now?_

With that, Alice and Vic hopped into the Challenger and Bella and I climbed into our respective trucks and pulled out.

The journey to her place only took five minutes, and soon she'd parked her truck in the underground parking below her building and was climbing in to the passenger seat next to me.

We chatted about nothing and everything as we drove from shop to shop picking up everything we thought Vic and I would need. I was pleased I hadn't had to go alone, as she remembered so much stuff that I hadn't even thought of. She suggested we stop by the local deli and get some take out for later on. I was just happy she wasn't thinking of going home yet.

The whole time we'd been out, there'd been this weird tension between the two of us. One minute we'd seem to be walking on egg shells around each other, and the next we'd be laughing like old friends.

Like at the hardware store, when she'd slipped on a badly cleaned up puddle of motor oil and I'd caught her before she'd fallen.

As she'd straightened up, her eyes had locked with mine, and I swear, I thought she was almost daring me to make a move. Unfortunately, an overly helpful employee by the name of Eric rushed over to see if she was alright and ruined the moment.

_Eager bastard._

A little after two in the afternoon we pulled up to the house and started unloading the stuff into the house. There was no sign of Alice and Vic, so we got to work putting the groceries away, with Bella chuckling at the notes Esme had left for us. She'd apparently done the same when Bella had moved in with Alice.

With the kitchen and guest bathroom fully stocked, I went to the fridge to get us a drink.

"So, do I get a tour of the place?" Bella asked as she played with the bottle top from her drink.

"Oh, yeah. Sure, if you like." I smiled and stood up, taking her hand as she made to stand.

She didn't drop my hand as we walked, so I continued to hold it as I showed her around the place. She laughed when she saw the table Peter had fallen asleep on and requested that she be here when I open my bottle of Gentleman Jack.

I thought she began to feel a bit nervous as we made our way upstairs. I wasn't oblivious to the fact that my mouth had gone dry as I tried not to imagine me leading her up to my room for a far better reason than just a tour of the house.

We could hear music coming from Vic's room as we climbed the last few steps. I knocked on the open door and we stepped in to see that Vic had seemingly unpacked everything and was now sitting with Alice on her bed flipping through photo albums.

"Aw hell, Red. What pictures have you been showin' her?" I asked, mortified at the thought of Bella seeing some of the ones I knew were in those albums.

"Now come on, Jasper," Alice smiled sweetly, "they're not all bad."

"Crap..." I muttered under my breath.

"Let me see?" Bella chuckled as she stepped towards the bed.

"Oh no, you don't!" I hollered, as without thinking, I grabbed her round the waist and hoisted her over my shoulder.

"Shit, Jasper!" She yelled as she dangled upside down over my shoulder. "Put me down before I kick your ass!"

"Who's gonna be kickin' who's ass, darlin'?" I asked as the other two fell about laughing.

"Alice?" She whined, pleading for help. But Alice only winked at her and clutched Vic's arm in an effort to stop laughing.

"Alright, alright. You win, Bella." I chuckled releasing my grip on her to allow her to slide down. She was wriggling so much that I had to let her down before she took out The Major and his Generals.

Blue balls I can handle, but _black and blue_ balls, I can't.

I didn't fail to notice the way she slid right down my body instead of simply lowering herself to her feet.

And I also didn't miss the gleam in her eye as she stepped away from me and asked, "So, where's _your_ room, Cowboy?"

**Wait! Don't kill me! This is what I meant earlier. The next chapter has a touch of citrus and will be up soon. **

**Maybe sooner if I get some fun reviews! Lol ;) **


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello my lovelies! How's everyone doing on the run up to xmas? I've finally managed to get almost sorted so I've had the chance to finally update. Sorry for the delay. Gemma, you can't kill me know, lol!**

**As always, a big thank you goes to Mambomama my brilliant Beta. Massive thanks to those of you who took time to read and especially Twisted-Twilighter, apolla101 and ellaryne who took the time to review. slytheringrl17 and Mxpi1970 I always look forward to hearing what you think. And Gemma, she may be family, but she always gives me feedback and thankfully, so far it's been all good!**

**So, here goes...was going to go the full after reading some of the reviews, but decided to stick to my original plan and have just a hint of citrus. Hopefully, you won't lynch me. You know a little anticipation can be sweet torture, **

**Usual diclaimer, yada yada yada, SM owns it all. Except the bar, that's all mine. Especially what happens there.x**

_**Bella POV**_

Shit.

I really didn't know how much more I could take before I accidentally blurted out that I wanted to ride him like 'Seabiscuit'.

All day I'd been trying to be good. Trying like hell not to flirt or find some way to touch him, as much as I wanted to. I did only break up with Jake last night, and I didn't want to seem like a hussy by jumping on the new guy.

No matter how insanely hot he is.

The thing is, every now and then, my control would slip, and I'd find myself laughing and fooling around like we'd known each other for years, and it felt amazing. When I'd had another dazzling display of clumsiness, there'd been a moment as he caught me when I'd decided that 'to hell with it'.

I'd thought he really was going to kiss me, but then some over eager kid had to come over and cock-block me.

With the moment ruined, I had no choice but to go back to my inner-monologue of, _'Hands to yourself, Swan...Hands to yourself, Swan...' _

Thankfully, the _Jasper-Induced-Stupidity_ I'd suffered so badly from the night before wasn't so bad today and, other than that one moment of being vertically challenged, I was feeling good.

Maybe I was feeling a little too good. I thought that if any more of those trademark smirks got thrown my way I was going to need a cold shower.

Or a clean pair of panties, at the very least...

We'd brought all the stuff in from the truck and had finished putting it all away when Jasper offered to get me a drink. I'd sat down at the table while he reached into the fridge to grab us a bottle each.

I'd love to say I didn't ogle the shit out of his ass as he did so, but I'd be a big fat liar.

I couldn't help it. It was either look at it, or run over and bite it, and looking certainly seemed the more sane option of the two.

"So, do I get a tour of the place?" I asked, thinking it would distract me from the dirty thoughts that were creeping into my head the longer I sat there.

No such luck, though.

Only, he took my hand to help me stand and neither of us let go as we walked around the place, so it wasn't long before the thoughts came back with a vengeance, especially when he started to lead me up the damn stairs.

_Okay, here we go again, Bella. You can do it. _

_...Hands to yourself, Swan...Hands to your-Wait...Except for the one he's holding...Crap..._

We made it up the stairs in a very different way to the frenzied, lust-fuelled way we were doing so in my head, and knocked on the open door to what I guessed to be Vic's bedroom.

She and Alice were snuggled together on the bed laughing and flipping through photo albums. I noticed the slight flush to Alice's cheeks and the fact that Vic's hair was a little wilder than it had been at the restaurant, but didn't comment. After all, they didn't know I saw their little moment in the kitchen last night.

Alice must be flipping through some embarrassing photos because Jasper looked mortified. I stepped towards them to see them when I was unceremoniously hoisted over his shoulder.

Now, I should point out, that I had a very good view of his delicious ass, like two juicy peaches in a denim handkerchief. In fact, if I was dangling a few inches lower, I'd be able to _bite_ said juicy peaches. _Ooh yes..._

However, I've never been good with being upside down for any length of time, and the last thing I wanted was to vomit all over the juicy twosome. So naturally, I kicked and screamed and pleaded to get down.

Better than throwing up all over him, then trying desperately not to tackle him when he inevitably went to change his clothes.

_My God, what the hell is wrong with me? _

I should just go home and spend some time with my Rabbit. Yes, I do mean the battery powered variety...

"Alright, alright. You win, Bella." Jasper chuckled and released me enough to let me drop down to the floor.

Now, I know it was bad, but I couldn't help clinging to him as I slid all the way down his body.

His eyes seemed to darken and that crumbled any resolve I had to behave.

The little angel on my shoulder vanished, leaving only the tiny devil on the other one. The tiny devil that usually only comes out to play after too much JD. Oh dear, there was nothing for it.

I smirked as I stepped away from him and said, "So where's _your_ room, Cowboy?"

I heard the two on the bed splutter, trying to stifle their laughter. But I could care less at that moment.

The trademark, panty-wetting smirk stretched across his beautiful face as he tilted an imaginary hat.

"Follow me, ma'am."

I just about died.

On the inside, that is.

As I had started this little game, I had to appear in control of my basic motor functions. On the outside I was bold and confident. Of course, in my head, my inner-monologue was screaming, _'Yeeeeeeeeeeeeess!' _and doing some sort of mad victory dance.

Taking my hand once more, he strode out of the room with me almost running to keep up. We passed three doors before he opened the last one at the end of the corridor.

No sooner had I entered the room than the door was slammed shut behind me and his lips were on mine.

His fingers threaded themselves through my hair as he held my face in his strong hands, and I could do nothing but clutch the back of his shirt, holding me as close to him as I could. It still wasn't close enough though, and I released the back of his shirt and wrapped my arms round his neck, my hands running through his hair, tugging slightly as I rose up onto my tip toes.

Taking the hint, he slid one arm around my back and the other under my ass and lifted me up effortlessly, folding my legs round his waist as he pressed my back into the door.

It was rough and frenzied and positively delicious.

_Now that's what I call throw-down!_

Sadly, the basic human necessity to breathe became an issue, and we broke apart panting. Forehead to forehead we stayed as we were, not kissing, but still clinging to one another.

"Whoa..."

"Yeah..."

No words came to mind as we tried to catch our breath. He looked up at me through those impossibly long lashes and smiled. Not a grin, or a sexy smirk, but a beautiful warm smile. With one raise of his eyebrows to ask for permission, he leaned in to kiss me again.

This time is was a slow, languid kiss. Though it still contained the passion of that first kiss, there was no rush. It meant something more.

With one last lingering kiss, he pulled away to look at me. (I may have pouted slightly...)

"That was...hmm...that was somethin' else, Bella."

"I know." It was all I could say. The inner me was doing that victory dance again, and it was all could do not to grin like a Cheshire Cat. (I'm told it makes me look scary.)

With a huge amount of effort on my part (because though I was trying to be good, I really didn't want to get down), I unwrapped my legs from the death grip they'd had on his waist and slid down his body once more.

However, I ended up inadvertently rubbing myself over the growing bulge in his jeans. Which, suffice to say, did nothing but fuel the fire stirring in the pit of my stomach.

A potentially embarrassing moan escaped me as once again, I found my back pressed against the door with his hands either side of my head and his body flush against me as he trailed kisses along my jaw and down my neck.

His kisses halted and he shivered slightly as my fingernails scratched lightly down his back, and I felt the vibrations of a growl (seriously?) that rumbled through his chest. I took my chance and began to kiss my way up his neck. I couldn't reach his chin as he was so tall, but I apparently hit a sensitive spot as I lightly nipped his pulse point and his hands flew to my hair and he moved my head to crash his lips to mine once again.

It was seriously hot, and I'm almost ashamed to admit how badly I wanted him in that moment.

Almost.

He was rock hard, and I was aching to grind myself against him. I was ridiculously turned on and let's just say I had an _itch_ that needed to be scratched. Desperately!

My hands were acting of their own accord as they reached for the hem of his shirt.

_Oh God_...I could feel the heat from his body and it made me shiver all the more.

Just as my fingertips were beginning to graze the warm skin of his stomach, our blissfully passionate tryst came to an abrupt end with a loud knock on the door.

_Fuck! I'm getting cock-blocked for the second time today._

"Heads up, you two! The guys will be here in twenty minutes!"

Panting, we held each other, trying to be quiet as Alice and Vic stood at the other side of the door giggling like little school girls at our lack of response.

"Bellllla? Jaaaaasper? ...Whatcha doin'...?"

"We'll be out in a minute!" I all but squeaked through the door.

Jasper cleared his throat, looked down to the large tent that was now the front of his jeans and back up at me quirking his eyebrow.

With my bottom lip between my teeth, a little whimper escaped me as I took in the sight before me. This beautiful man was leaning over me with smouldering eyes, that damn smirk and a frigging marquee in his pants.

What else was I supposed to say?

"Um...you guys...make that fifteen!"

**Soooooo?...What do you think? Are you going to kill me?x**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi everyone! **

**Had a great Xmas and New Year. Mine was quiet but nice. **

**I know it's been a while since my last update, and I am sorry. The holidays, writing for the Countdown to Valentine's Day (which you all should read by the way!) and a fuckin annoying case of not being able to put the words in my head onto the laptop. Grrrr.**

**Anyhoo!...Hopefully, this little chappie will cheer you all up. **

**Big hellos and hugs to princessxoamber, SAVAGEGRACEx, slytheringrl17, Twisted-Twilighter, stephibaby, LithiumReaper, shandra101, codenames and fanicki. And to Mxpi1970 massive cowboy shaped goodies to you. Gemma, you may recognise something in this chapter...hehehe ;D**

**Well, lovelies. Tell me what you think, your reviews arelike jasper nekid...They're finger lickin' good.**

We stayed where we were, panting and still pressed against the door listening for any sign that those two were still at the other side.

Jasper had rested his head against my shoulder as we waited, and his breath was doing delicious things to my neck. He chuckled under his breath when I shivered lightly, and something inside me snapped.

There was a heavy thud as my hands that had been resting on his hips gripped his belt loops and pulled him roughly against me. The tinkling laughter that we heard through the door told us that they hadn't gone anywhere, and we had to try really hard not to laugh out loud.

The denim marquee he was sporting had not shrunk in the slightest despite the interruption, and as he pulled back to look at me, I couldn't stop my eyes from glancing down at it.

With one eyebrow raised, he leaned into me and whispered.

"You're biting down on that lip of yours pretty hard there, Sugar. See somethin' you like?"

I hummed and nodded, because I feared if I allowed myself to speak, I would have likely said something highly embarrassing, and I wouldn't be able to use alcohol as an excuse.

He raised one finger to his lips in a 'Sshhh' gesture, before slowly tilting his head down to kiss me once more. Neither of us seemed to care that there were two highly excitable women waiting outside the door trying to hear any tell-tale noises. We'd had a taste of each other, and fuck if I didn't want the whole fucking treat right then and there!

My hands found their way to those denim wrapped peaches, and I pulled him to me again.

I couldn't get enough of him, couldn't get him close enough to me.

His hands closed around my wrists, however, and they were suddenly pinned against the door above my head.

_Fuck me..._

His hands pressed my wrists into the wood behind me and his erection pressed against my stomach. God knows it was hot, and when I moaned involuntarily he stilled for a minute to look into my eyes.

I would have been embarrassed if I hadn't been so insanely turned on.

Shifting his grip to hold both my wrists in one hand, he began to trail the other down my body agonisingly slowly.

His fingertips left a tingling sort of warmth behind them as they dragged lightly over my skin. Down my raised arms to my shoulder, where they moved up my neck to cup my head as he tilted my face up to meet his for another searing kiss that left me breathless.

Still kissing me, his fingertips continued their travels as they traced back down my neck and down my chest into my cleavage, with a brief graze over the swell of my breast, down my side and across my stomach, coming to a stop at the button on the waistband of my jeans.

My skin had erupted in goose bumps, but I was far from cold. His gentle feather-light touches had me squirming against him, trying to free my wrists, but he merely broke the kiss, shook his head and held them even tighter.

He'd just begun to pull my top up when we heard the front door open and Emmett hollering up the stairs.

"Jasper! Vicky! Where are you guys?"

_Twenty minutes my fucking ass!_

I froze, but Jasper ignored the newcomers and pushed my top up until he was able to pull it over my head. He ducked down and began kissing his way down my chest to my stomach.

Vicky and Alice were giggling behind the door, but at that moment, I couldn't care. Jasper's strong hands had gripped my hips to keep me from wriggling, and the sensation of being restrained only served to turn me on more.

I heard Alice call to Emmett that they were upstairs, but I didn't hear his reply. My fingers had found their way back into his hair, and I suddenly didn't care that everyone was now downstairs and, though I probably should have, I didn't care that I should let him go down and see the friends he hadn't seen in years before last night.

I wasn't interested in anything but the feel of his body against me and his kisses on my skin.

A gentle tug on his hair let him know I was impatient to be kissing those lips of his again, and he rose back up to meet my eyes. It was also time for him to lose the shirt he was wearing, and I'd just slipped my fingers under the hem and started to lift it off him when there was a gentle tap on the door.

"Ignore it." He whispered, and finished taking his shirt off for me.

Another tap sounded, but again we ignored it. He had traced his fingers down my sides and along to the button on my jeans, once again. I soon followed suit and had his belt unbuckled and his jeans unbuttoned quicker than I thought I possible.

_Ha! Eager are you, Ms. Swan?_

This time, instead of a gentle tapping, there was a loud banging on the door.

"Jazz!"

It was Vic, stage whispering through the door.

"I really am sorry to interrupt what I assume is some hot stuff goin' on in there, but Ali has already had to go downstairs to distract Emmett. The big bear was on his way up here to find you. Just put her down and get out here. You know him and Petey will come racing up here to try and catch you two going at it when they find out Bella is up here with you, Brother. You don't have a lock on this door yet, remember?"

"Shit." Jasper sighed as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Okay, Red. We'll be out in a minute."

"Alright." There was a slight pause before she added "Oh, and Snow?"

"Um, Yeah?" I answered wearily.

"There's a hairbrush and toiletries in my bathroom. I got a feelin' that you'll need to straighten up some, before you walk in to that pack of laughin' hyenas."

"Thanks, Vicky," I sighed as my cheeks that had been slightly flushed with pleasure seconds ago, immediately turned red with embarrassment.

"Aw, Jazz, is she blushin' again?"

"Just a little, Red. Now get down there and give us a minute." He chuckled, and we heard her laughter fade as she walked away.

"Sorry, Darlin', but she's right. Emmett can't help himself, and Peter is a nosey son of a bitch." He sighed as he pulled away to allow me to fasten my jeans.

_Would be just my luck if I forgot to fasten them!_ I thought wryly, as I looked around for my shirt.

It was a crime to be covering such a fine specimen of a man with clothing, but it wouldn't be helpful when trying to appear nonchalant in front of everyone if I was licking his bare chest.

_Ooh, what a delicious thought..._

Thirty sorry seconds later and we were (sadly) dressed again and walking to Vicky's room so I could attempt to look like I hadn't just had the hottest make-out session of my life.

I did the best I could, but judging by the look on Char and Rose's faces when we walked into the kitchen, it hadn't been enough.

Yeah, I was going to have to stick to Jasper, as the minute he left me alone they'd pounce.

_Maybe I could say we were moving furniture or something?_

The eight chairs around the table were all taken, so after grabbing a beer from the fridge, we ended up leaning against the counter listening to Angela telling the rest of them how lunch had gone with her parents, while Ben cringed.

It seemed that Ben had still been more than a little hung over when lunch had rolled around, but couldn't bring himself to send Angela alone as he was trying to make a good impression. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get out of eating the three course meal Angela's mom had made specially, and had to take a trip to the bathroom to vomit twice during the course of the lunch.

They were all laughing so hard at the image of a very green-looking Ben trying to force three courses of food down after eating the breakfast he had with us, that they didn't notice Jasper's hand move from behind me on the counter to the ass pocket of my jeans.

"Tease." I muttered under my breath, not thinking he'd heard me.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, and though he wasn't looking at me, I knew the shit-eating grin on his face had nothing to do with Ben. Still not looking at me, he leaned sideways to whisper in my ear.

"Don't think I'm finished with you yet, Sugar."

"Is that a fact, Cowboy?" I whispered while also appearing to be laughing along with the others.

"Sure is, Darlin'. Hope you don't have plans for the rest of the weekend, because I don't intend to let that sweet ass of yours out of this house. 'Matter of fact, I don't anticipate us leavin' my room. Well, except for me to come in here and find something delicious to drip all over you."

Now, if I didn't think he was serious then, the next words out of his mouth left no room for doubt and me with a serious need for a change of underwear.

"Tell me, Bella..." he whispered as he quickly kissed that spot behind my ear, "Do you like caramel?"

**Bracing myself...**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hello, my beautiful readers.**_

_**First off, I just want to apologise for not updating for a long time. Real life got in the way, unfortunately, and things were pretty shitty for a while. I won't go into details, as I don't want to depress y'all. Suffice to say, that I simply wasn't in the right frame of mind to be writing funny, sexy stuff. So instead of posting something I really wasn't happy with, I left it alone and waited until I was feeling better.**_

_**That time has come, however, and I hope that this chapter makes a good peace offering to make up for the long wait. I'm also hoping to post another chapter in the next few days. See I'm trying to make it up to you!**_

**Jasper POV**

We'd tried to ignore the arrival of Emmett and the gang, but Vic's urgent stage-whispering through the door reminded me just how tactless my two best friends could be. And I'd be damned if I was having my first taste of Bella interrupted by those two assholes.

We'd ended up gettin' dressed quickly and Bella had taken Vic up on her offer to use her bathroom to make herself look a little less _excited_.

It didn't work completely, of course, as no matter how tidy she made her hair and clothes that blush just wouldn't quit. So naturally, one look at the color of her cheeks and the game was up.

The shit-eatin' grin that I was sure was plastered on my face wouldn't have helped either.

_Oh, well..._

When we got to the kitchen, everyone was listenin' to Angela tell them how sick Ben had been at the family lunch. I reckon it had to have been awful, eatin' so much after a drinkin' so much the night before is never pretty.

Poor guy.

Bella seemed to be laughin' along with the rest of them, though I saw her move gradually closer to me every time she shifted her footing.

_God, but that ass! _

We were leanin' against the kitchen counter -the chairs were taken- and we were soon standing as close as you can get when you're tryin' not to be too obvious. I swear to God, it was all I could do to keep my damn hands to myself.

I hadn't wanted to let go of her upstairs, but I knew I had to. Didn't mean I had to like it. I was aching to touch her in some way, though; so while no one was payin' attention, I took the opportunity to slip my hand into the back pocket of Bella's jeans. To the rest, it would look like I was leanin' on my hand.

"Tease." She muttered under her breath, too low for the others to hear.

I wasn't lookin' at her, but she knew the shit-eating grin on my face had nothing to do with whatever Ben and the rest of them were laughin' at. Still keepin' my eyes on the group, I leaned sideways to whisper in her ear.

I may have made sure that my breath would send a shiver through her...

"Don't think I'm finished with you yet, Sugar."

"Is that a fact, Cowboy?" She whispered behind her bottle as she took a sip.

"Sure is, Darlin'. Hope you don't have plans for the rest of the weekend, because I don't intend to let that sweet ass of yours out of this house. 'Matter of fact, I don't anticipate us leavin' my room. Well, except for me to come in here and find something delicious to drip all over you."

Her jaw actually dropped as I leaned close enough to kiss her just behind her ear.

"Tell me, Bella..." I whispered as I quickly kissed that spot behind her ear, "Do you like caramel?"

She shuddered delicately as my warm breath hit her neck, and the moan she stifled by biting her lower lip was the sexiest noise I ever heard.

I had to wage in internal war with myself, as the Major was seriously trying to make himself known, and it was goin' to be impossible to act normally around the others if I had a ragin' hard-on.

Eventually, we all moved to the comfort of the den, and the rest of the evening progressed in much the same way as the night before.

Peter and Emmett would say or do somethin' hilarious, and we'd all laugh. Rose and Char would alternate between rolling their eyes and cuffin' their men round the back of the head, and Angela and Ben would laugh along with the rest of us.

Vic and Alice were sitting on the floor by the fireplace next to my chair. They were talkin' animatedly to the rest of the group, but only I could see that as they leaned back on their hands, their fingers were intertwined.

As for Bella and me, we had been the last to sit down, due to the fact that we'd lingered in the kitchen. We'd intended to clear the table and sort out the snacks.

Which we had done...eventually.

_The gang was still laughin' as they filed out of the kitchen. Alice had given Bella a discreet thumbs up, which I took as a sign we'd not been too obvious. Vic had only winked as she passed us._

_I'd collected up all the bottles and took them out back to the recycling bin. When I came back through the back door, Bella was reachin' into the cupboard that Esme had stashed Emmett's food._

_The curve of her butt as she rose up on her tip toes had my jeans feelin' mighty uncomfortable, but I lost all control of myself as she reached up high and her shirt rode up to expose the pale skin of her lower back._

_Sweet, Mother of God..._

_She turned, mid-stretch at the sound of the back door slamming shut._

_I hadn't caught it, as I was already striding across the kitchen to her._

_I pulled her roughly to me and kissed her with a previously, unknown ferocity. Her hands immediately flew up to grab handfuls of my hair as I held her body to me with one hand and cradled the back of her head with the other._

_In a few seconds, I'd lifted her up onto the counter-top and was standing between her legs as they wrapped round my waist. Her heels were diggin' into my ass, pulling me closer to her as I kissed that little spot on her neck._

_Thank God that Emmett is a loud fucker, or he'd have walked in on her draggin' her nails down my back as I gently nibbled on the skin over the pulse point._

_As it was, I only just managed to move the few feet to the fridge door before he strode through the door to find out what was taking so long._

"_Dude, what's taking you guys so long? The DVD's all loaded up and the drinks are poured." He asked me as he began opening cupboard doors at random, presumably trying to find the snacks we were supposed to be in charge of. "Um...Bells? Why are you sitting on the counter?"_

"_Why do you think, Em?" She replied, without missing a beat. "The chips are way up on the top shelf, and I can't reach the damn things. I had to jump up here to get them."_

"_Oh, right. Trust you to not just ask that lanky streak of piss to get 'em for you," he chuckled as he abandoned his assault on the kitchen cupboards and left to rejoin the rest._

_Bella grinned at me as she hopped down from her perch, and I was left with a 'Major' problem when she walked the round the table to press her delicious body against me._

_Her voice was husky as she tried to keep her voice too low for anyone but me to hear, thus making the next four words out of her mouth that much more sultry._

"_I want you. Now."_

_Well, fuck me._

It seemed, however, that our friends had other ideas. Three hours, one film and a staggering amount of potato chips later, Peter and Emmett decided to head over to the bar with Rose and Char agreeing as long as they could head home and change first. Angela said she was going to take Ben home, as he was still looking a little green. After a few seconds of silent conversation, Alice and Vic agreed to join us for one, then they were going to Blockbuster's to rent a movie.

"C'mon Whitlock, move your ass. We got some drinking to do!" boomed Emmett as he clapped me on the shoulder.

"Alright man, I'm comin'. Jeez!" I laughed.

Bella, who'd been sitting opposite me on the arm of the massive chair Alice and Vic had been sharing, raised on eyebrow and huffed slightly.

_She's so cute when she's poutin'._

**Bella POV**

As I lay on the bed with my eyes closed, waiting for him to come back, I chuckled to myself at the sweet – but undoubtedly obvious – plan my two best bitches had come up with to get me some alone time with the Abercrombie Angel.

We'd been at the bar for an hour or so, when Rose and Char had cornered me in the bathroom to interrogate me about what Jasper and I had been doing upstairs when they'd arrived at the house earlier. Evidently, they'd known full well that we'd been fooling around, they'd just chosen to wait until they had me alone before hounding me for details.

Me being me, of course, had blurted out that because their husbands couldn't keep their man-love for Jasper in check, they'd arrived just as things between us were heating up. And, that I was all kinds of frustrated because it'd been the hottest make-out session of my entire existence and their early arrival had meant I'd been cock-blocked for the _second_ time today.

...I may or may not have had a few Jack and cokes by that point...

After much laughing -on their part- and threats of violence -on mine- they agreed to me not sharing juicy details of the aforementioned make-out session, until such a time as it wouldn't make me want to pummel some inanimate object to relieve the unbelievable amount of sexual frustration that had built up inside me.

They then informed me that, due to the fact that they were practically salivating to hear details of Jasper's 'blatant "Sex Mojo"', they would drag their men home as soon as they could realistically get away with so I could 'get on that horse'.

_Oh. Dear. Lord..._

It had taken another hour, before Rose had successfully convinced Emmett that he must be hungry again, and got him out of the bar. Char took a different approach by whispering sweet nothings -and by that, I mean she was probably describing all kinds of porntastic treats- in Pete's ear so that he ended up being horny enough that he actually dragged her away!

Jasper and I had stayed at the bar for another twenty minutes until we finished our drinks, then quietly headed to his truck. The journey back to his house was filled with sneaky sideways glances and a tense silence that was only broken when I got a text from Alice to say she and Vic were at our place so we had the place to ourselves.

_Thanks Rose and Char! _I just knew one, or both of those crafty witches had texted Alice saying that I needed to get laid.

As it later transpired, Rose's exact words in a text to Alice were:

**Biatch is finally going to swing her leg over that fuck-hot cowboy and ride him like the Rodeo until her legs lose all function. You two may want to head to your place. Night! Rose.x**

I had been about to tell him that he could take me back to my place if he wanted, when we pulled onto his drive. I'd been so lost in my own thoughts, I hadn't noticed.

We got out of the truck and headed up the porch steps without saying a word to each other.

Jasper unlocked the door and I stepped through. But before I'd had the chance to take another step, the door slammed shut, and he'd spun me round and crashed his lips to mine.

My hands instinctively found their way to his golden hair as his slid down my back to my ass.

_About goddamn time, Whitlock!_ I thought as we stumbled down the hall, a mess of tangled legs, wandering hands and eager mouths.

I yelped as my back hit the newel post at the foot of the stairs, and we broke apart panting.

"Upstairs?" I asked, flushing as my chest heaved embarrassingly.

Jasper didn't seem to mind though as his eyes were locked onto my breasts as he murmured "Hell yeah...Now, run."

So I did.

I turned and shot up the stairs to his room with surprising agility. I let out a little squeal as I felt him gaining on me, and I pushed myself harder until I reached his room. I darted in and quickly hid to one side of the doorframe.

Jasper had too much momentum to stop effectively, and he blew straight past me.

_Ha! You're mine now, Abercrombie._

I launched myself at him as he turned to face me, and the frenetic kissing began again.

This time, there was no hesitation, no inhibitions. I wanted him, and he wanted me. There would be no interruptions now. Hell, we were so far past lust-crazed that, should the Four Horsemen descend, I was pretty fucking sure we'd simply tell them to either fuck off or enjoy the show!

My t-shirt was soon on the floor along with his shirt, socks and shoes were strewn all over, and as for our jeans? Well, fucked if I knew where the hell they landed. Time seemed to stop, and the only thing that existed in the world for me at that precise moment was Jasper.

As the moonlight flooded in from the window, he was backlit in silver light. Yet I could still make out each line, curve and feature of his beautiful face, and the smooth expanse of chest that gave way to deliciously toned abs.

My breathing hitched as my eyes travelled further and took in the 'V' shaped muscle definition that disappeared under a pair of snug fitting black boxer briefs.

He was standing completely still, watching me ogle him shamelessly, yet I couldn't stop myself.

I stepped towards him as I noticed the fine lines of a tattoo that crept over his shoulders. Raising one hand, I traced the marks with my fingertips. Another step toward him revealed a beautiful pattern that covered both shoulders and appeared to stretch over his back.

I pushed up on to my tiptoes to get a better look, but he was still too tall. Without a word, he knelt down in front of me, and I could see that the beautiful designs did indeed cover his shoulders and half his back.

The fine lines of black ink were in no particular design or shape I could recognise, but they reminded me of wings. I was sure that not many men could get away with having such a tattoo. It wasn't in the least bit feminine, but I thought if a man like Emmett had the same design, it would look just that.

I was broken out of my inner debate by feather-light kisses on my stomach.

My muscles twitched, and my skin erupted in goose bumps as his breath ghosted over my skin after every touch of his soft lips. His hands glided lightly up my thighs to hold my hips as he continued to kiss across my stomach. He lingered at a spot on the inside of my right hip bone which sent a jolt of pleasure through me, even though I never knew I was sensitive there. He sank lower still until he was kissing my clit over my panties.

_Jesus Christ and all his little angels in heaven. If this was what he did to me at the smallest touch, what the hell will it be like when we actually take things further?_

My hands contracted involuntarily, and he hissed as my nails dug into his beautifully decorated shoulders. Sliding my hands into his gloriously soft hair once more, I silently urged him to stand up again so I could reclaim his lips with my own.

Instead, he scooped me up in his arms as he stood and carried me over to his bed. He lay me down so gently, yet the passion that had swept us up in a whirlwind earlier hadn't dissipated. It was like it was waiting, letting us really see each other before it consumed us once again.

**Jasper POV**

As I looked down at her, layin' with her hair fanning out around her and her pale skin, almost iridescent in the light of the moon, I was blindsided by the feelings stirring inside me. Snakes writhed in knots, and butterflies flapped their wings, churning and turning my emotions upside down and inside out.

I was terrified and elated in equal measure. A sensation akin to the first time I ever performed to a large crowd. Only my audience, now, was Bella. And I feared, out of everyone who'd ever come before her, her judgement would be the most important of my life.

My eyes raked over her stunningly pale skin, and I watched as it flushed under my scrutiny. Though the light of the moon bled the colour out of her blush, it was still beautiful to me.

Long, smooth legs that seemed to, inexplicably, go on for miles and ending in dark purple lace boy shorts. A flat stomach that was perfectly pale except for a small ornate letter 'C' on the inside of her left hip bone, luscious full breasts that were supported by a bra that matched her panties and finally, a slender neck which led my eyes back to her beautiful face.

But it was her eyes that held my gaze.

Those deep chocolate brown eyes were the very first thing that drew me to her, and they were the reason I had not ripped her remaining items of clothing off her body yet.

She sat up, her hair tumbling round her shoulders and held out a hand to me. I took it and she pulled me to her. She lay back down, and this time I followed her, moving to lie beside her.

"Jasper," she whispered as she raised one hand to trace my lips with her finger tips, "kiss me."

She met me halfway as I drew her lips to mine.

I rolled onto my back so her gorgeous body was on top of mine and wrapped my arms around her. I kissed along her jaw line and down to her shoulder, eliciting a soft sigh as I continued my movements back up to the pulse point in her neck.

That sound was music to my ears, and was also the final straw for the Major.

I'd been trying my best to resist what had become the increasingly difficult task of avoiding getting a raging hard-on. I'd wanted to show her that I cared about her, not that I was just a mindless animal that simply wanted to fuck her.

_Even if a significant part of me did want to do just that._

She pulled on my hair to move my face back to hers and kissed me with a kind of hungry sweetness, and I soon found my head spinnin'. She pulled back looking every bit as dazed as me. When I raised an eyebrow to ask why she'd stopped, she smiled her breathtaking smile and said,

"You forgot the caramel, baby."

**_Ok, the schmexin' comes next. Promise._**


	14. Chapter 14

_**Hello lovelies,**_

_**Well, I promised I'd update soon. Hope you all like it.**_

_**Massive Emmett hugs to my beautiful beta Mambomama, love ya bb. Big thank you to Mxpi1970 and **_**LithiumReaper, welcome back ladies, so glad you're still with me. Your reviews never fail to make me smilw ith your delicious perviness! LOL. Also, hugs to Galvestons Daughter, TwilightAddict71484, Twisted-Twilighter, NocturnalAstroMonkey and shizzle for you're great reviews, you ladies are fantastic.**

**Enjoy...**

**Jasper POV**

I closed my eyes as I leaned against the fridge door, trying to catch my breath.

_What was I doing? _

I had a beautiful, intoxicating creature upstairs waiting for me, and here I was, trying to calm the fuck down before I went back up to her.

I felt like I did in every morning before Ms Jackson's tenth grade World History class_. Trying to will away a raging hard on._

I wasn't nervous about sleeping with her, in fact, I was probably far too damn eager to do just that! I just didn't want that to be all it would be.

I really liked Bella. I felt that perhaps she felt the same way, though, of course, I hadn't forgotten that she'd only just broken up with her ex.

Emmett had mentioned that first night that he'd been furious at the way this 'Jake' had spoken to her when he'd ended things with her _over the phone _– who does that? Evidently, he'd been pissed that she had so many close friends, and that she liked to spend so much time with them.

In a completely irrational way, I was offended on their behalf. Peter and Char were family, as well as Emmett. I didn't know the others as well as them, but I could plainly see they were the best and most loyal of people. This Jake was clearly delusional.

Or possibly just an asshole.

Either way, Emmett had been relieved when things had ended between them. Apparently, according to him, the guy hadn't suited her, and he didn't seem to want to make the effort to get to know any of them. I just think that Em had become so protective of her that no man would be good enough for her – probably even me, judging by his initial reaction that night at the bar.

Whatever happened, she and Jake were over. She'd told me as much on our trip round the hardware store. Whether it was or not, I knew there was something going on between us; and I thought it could become something good.

If I'm honest, I thought it could be something really, _really_ good and I didn't want to potentially ruin it or - to sound all 'Dear Abby' – _cheapen_ it by sleeping together so soon.

I had apparently turned into a damn woman.

Truth be told, I didn't want her to think that I was just after a quick fuck or an easy lay, when nothing could be further from the truth. I wanted something real.

Bella was real to me. She wasn't a fan wanting me for my supposed 'good looks', she didn't want me for the money I've made – she hadn't even realized who I was when we met – and she didn't want to know me because she thought I could introduce her to someone in the business. She was just Bella.

I wanted her to be _My Bella._

That was my decision made right there.

As much as the Major – who would surely go on strike after this – wanted me to go up there and give Bella the night of her life, I knew that she deserved more.

With a shrug and a resigned smile, I reached into the cupboard, left the kitchen and headed up the stairs with my arms full and my head held high.

As I stepped back into my room, I saw Bella still lying on my bed. Her arm had fallen over her eyes and a smile was playin' on her lips. She looked so beautiful at that moment that I knew I was doin' the right thing.

_Even if the Major wasn't convinced!_

I set what I'd been carryin' down by the side of the bed and sat myself on the bed beside her. Brushin' my fingertips lightly along the arm covering her eyes, I asked "You okay, Sugar?"

Her arm fell away and keeping her eyes closed, she whispered "Hmm...I'm good."

She opened her eyes as she raised herself so that she was leanin' back on her elbows.

"You were down there for a while, everything ok?" She asked as her eyes closed when I started to draw lazy circles over her stomach.

"Everythin's fine darlin'. I was just thinkin'."

"About what?" She looked up at me and I could see she was starting to worry.

I curled my legs underneath me on the bed and pulled her to me so she was sitting in a position that mirrored my own.

"It's nothin' bad, Bella. Don't worry." I kissed her softly, resistin' the urge to deepen the kiss.

I needed to keep my head talkin' before I let my body say the opposite.

"Well, it can't be that good if we're still talking. I had thought you'd be decidedly naked by now."

God, that pout was adorable.

_Fuck!...Man up, Whitlock, for fuck's sake!_

"You don't want to do this anymore do you?" she asked.

I could hear the hurt in her voice, but I could see her taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders as if she was bracing herself for my answer.

"Bella, if by _this_ you mean dribbling all sorts of delicious things over your body and slowly licking them off. You're goddamn crazy if you think I'm _not_ going to do just that."

Cue that blush..._bingo!_

"I was just thinkin' that we should hold off on having - what I am absolutely positive will be – mind blowin' sex for now. It's not that I don't want to, you only have to look at me to see that ain't the case."

She did, then bit her lip to hid a smile as she took in the sight off the obvious erection that was currently making it hard for me to concentrate on anythin' I was trying to say.

"The fact is honey, you just broke up with someone and we've only known each other for a few days. I could sit here and tell you that you're beautiful and smart and sweet as sugar, and it'd be nowhere near to describing how amazin' I think you are. But you don't know me either, and I want you to be sure that I'm not lookin' for a quick roll in the hay. You deserve more, and I want to be the man to give it to you."

I sighed at my complete lack of fuckin' coherency and ran my fingers through my hair. "What I'm tryin' to say, _badly_, is that I like you too much to ruin my chances with you by movin' too quick."

She was quiet for what seemed like an age before she maneuvered herself until she was straddling my thighs. She lowered herself so that if she chose to, she could grind her hot little ass against the Major, and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Japer, though you may have just given away your 'man-card' with that little speech – oh don't worry, I won't tell Petey – that was the most honest thing a man has ever said to me. And as much as I hate to admit it, I think you're right. Though, if you think you're not getting naked tonight, you're sorely mistaken, Mister." She giggled, as she bent her head to kiss me fiercely.

Her hands gripped my shoulders and mine held her hips as she rocked over me. My dick was almost painfully hard and threatening to burst out of my boxers as she ground against me.

"Playin' with fire there, Sugar. I'm about ready to forget everythin' I just said and take you right now."

"Well damn, maybe that's my plan." She whispered as she kissed her way down my throat.

**Bella POV**

The next thing I know, I'm flat on my back and Jasper is holding himself over me. The feel of his – frankly incredible – bulge _(Oh lord, the bulge!) _pressing against me was heavenly.

I may or may not have moaned. Shamelessly.

Ok, I really did. _What did you expect, the man's fucking gorgeous!_

He kissed me and my body felt like I was on fire. I was embarrassingly hot for this man and the fact that he didn't just want a quick fuck - something I was ashamed to admit I had considered – made me heat up even more.

He rolled us over and sat up, so that I was suddenly on top of him and he soon made quick work of unhooking my bra and throwing it across the room.

He took a nipple in his mouth and I automatically arched into him. He gently pulled on my hardened peak with his teeth before flicking it with his tongue. He cupped my other breast with his hand and ran his thumb across my other nipple. It instantly pebbled and for such a simple action, it certainly added to the pleasure coursing through me just then.

"Bella..." he whispered as he kissed up my chest to my neck.

"Hmm?..." Okay, so coherency was becoming an issue at that point.

"Do you trust me?"

_Any more kissing of my neck and I was going to rip those god forsaken boxers off his fine ass and ride him like the Rodeo._

I nodded, which was all I could do as he gently nipped at the pulse point on my neck, and I ground down on his boxer shredding erection.

"Good. Then lie back, Sugar." I complied and watched as he moved to hover over me. "Close your eyes."

I did as he said and felt the bed shift underneath me. A moment later I felt the bed move again.

He slid a hand under my head and I took that as a cue he wanted me to raise my head. I felt him cover my eyes with some sort of material then slowly lowered my head back to the bed.

"Now, I don't want any cheatin', darlin'. If you cheat, I stop. Okay?"

I didn't have time to answer before I felt something warm drip over my left nipple.

_HOLY FUCK!_

I couldn't tell where he was. I couldn't feel him on the bed next to me.

What I did feel, however, was his tongue as he swirled it over the peak. He slowly kissed and licked whatever it was off me, his hot breath feeling at odds with the goose bumps this pleasure was giving me. I sighed at his touch, and I could feel that my nipple was moist from his ministrations.

But then he blew cold air over it, and I thought I would explode as my back arched off the bed in pleasure.

I'd barely recovered before I felt the sensation of warmth dripping over my right nipple. Knowing he was about to give a repeat performance of the single most sensual experience of my life, made it all the more erotic, and I was literally quivering by the time he was done.

By this point, I was rubbing my thighs together in a desperate attempt to get some sort of friction.

_My cooch was practically screaming for him, and he'd barely touched me. _

I felt his finger touch the warm substance to a spot under my jaw, on the pulse point of my neck and in a line between my breasts.

I was beginning to regain enough of my senses to smell that whatever he was using was sweet.

_Ah...the caramel..._

He kissed me long and slow at every place he'd touched, and I was rapidly becoming overwhelmed. My body shaking as each kiss sent me soaring on a wave of pleasure.

It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced, and I didn't think I'd be able to do it justice if I was ever to describe to anyone else. Actually, fuck if I wanted anyone else knowing his tricks.

_Mine!_

His kisses continued down my stomach, his hair tickling my skin lightly as he made his way across to the inside of my hip bone to where my previously unknown, but recently discovered erogenous zone was.

My hips bucked. I'd tried to be good, I really had, but it was becoming too much. He nipped at the skin with his teeth and sucked a little.

"Oh!" I cried and practically twisted my legs into knots to give me some relief.

I felt his lips next to my ear and his breath down my neck as he chuckled lightly and whispered in a low voice.

"Easy there, darlin'. I'm just gettin' started."

**_So there you go my beautiful little pervs ;) Don't worry, there will be more caramel and certainly more Jasper. But if you're especially cheeky, and leave me some love, I'll add a little extra something just for you. I mean, if they're going to get dirty, they're going to have to get clean, right?...*cough cough* Shower Lovin' *cough cough*_**


	15. Chapter 15

**Bella POV**

I woke up the next morning to light pouring through the window. Closing the curtains hadn't been high on our priorities last night. I had no idea what time it was, but I knew I couldn't have had that much sleep.

I was lying on my side with Jasper's arm curled round me. I could feel his warm breath on the back of my neck and his morning wood pressing against my lower back.

I resisted the urge to snigger like a school girl at the fact that his erection was poking me, and revelled in the feeling of this beautiful man wrapped around me. Yes, apparently, I have woken up on the 'Mills & Boon' side of the bed this morning. As I lay there, my mind wandered back to the night before...

_**...Jasper drew my legs up so that my feet were apart and resting on the bed.**_

_**I felt him crawl between my legs and sighed as he placed soft kisses over my stomach, still not letting the rest of his body make contact with mine. I could tell he was holding himself over me from the way the bed dipped slightly on either side, where I presumed his hands were.**_

_**I could feel the heat from his body as he leaned further forward to take my left nipple in his hot mouth. His erection was hovering right over my aching centre and I yearned to lift my hips to meet him. But like the good girl he told me to be, I lay still.**_

_**After all, he did say that if I cheated he'd stop. The fucking tease.**_

_**The heat disappeared, and I whimpered at the loss. I heard him chuckle softly.**_

_**After a torturous minute, I sensed him moving to the end of the bed again.**_

_**I felt him hook his arms under my knees and slide me slowly and gently, down towards the end of the bed. **_

"_**Oh!" I cried as I felt an ice cold drop of liquid travel down the inside of my right thigh from my knee towards my centre.**_

_**Jasper's warm tongue caught it halfway, before it reached its destination, and traced its path back up towards my knee.**_

_**My legs tensed at the sensation before I felt him repeat the action on my left thigh.**_

_**I had no idea what that ice cold liquid was, but it felt amazing. **_

_**He waited to catch the drop, a little longer every time, so that each time he got closer and closer to my aching center I wished that I could see what he was doing to me. The sight of his head between my thighs is one I was more than determined to see, and I had to clench my fists to stop myself from ripping that blindfold off me.**_

_**The last drop was not caught, as I had been expecting. **_

_**Two drops travelled, simultaneously, all the way down each thigh.**_

_**As they reached my centre, the contrast of the ice cold liquid against my heated core became almost too much. Though, I was covered by the thin fabric of my panties, difference in temperature still shocked me. **_

_**I barely had time to react, before I felt him bring his mouth down to me to taste the liquid that covered me...**_

I felt him stir behind me and I turned my body to face him.

As I pressed as gentle kiss to his chest, I smiled thinking about how I'd had my own turn at the fun...

_**...Jasper had teased me enough. If we weren't going to be going any further tonight, then I needed him to stop. I was balancing on the edge of pleasure and frustration. **_

_**It was exquisite torture.**_

_**He had worked his way back up my body, still keeping his weight off me, until he had reached my neck. I pushed the blindfold away from my eyes and pulled him down to me.**_

_**I needed to feel his body against mine.**_

_**His skin felt so warm after all the ice cold liquid he's dripped over me. It was delicious. Our kiss was deep and slow until he pulled back from me, smirking.**_

"_**Aw, Darlin'. You're cheatin'."**_

"_**No, baby. I'm taking my turn."**_

"_**That a fact?" he laughed, ignoring me as he began to leave open mouthed kisses along my neck.**_

_**Cheater!**_

"_**Yes, it is a fact. Now sit your fine ass up."**_

_**He quirked an eyebrow at me, but moved, regardless. **_

_**I slipped out from underneath him and stood at the side of the bed. I took a minute to decide how I wanted him, before I took his hand and guided him to sit on the corner of the bed with his feet on the floor.**_

"_**Now, you have a choice, baby. You can either have the blindfold on, or you can watch. Either way, you're to sit on your hands so you can't use them."**_

"_**No hands?" he pouted.**_

"_**Nope. Your rules, honey. You cheat? I stop." **_

"_**Minx." He muttered as he shoved his hands under his ass.**_

_**I stifled a giggle at the sight of a grown man, sitting on his hands.**_

_**I took it that he was deciding to forgo the blindfold – which after glancing behind him, I saw was actually his t-shirt. He did close his eyes, however, and I took that as my cue to begin.**_

_**I gently pushed his knees apart so that he was sitting across the corner of the bed.**_

_**I spotted the caramel he'd been using earlier. It was a squirty bottle which I thought it was damn handy, though I'd bet Esme hadn't envisioned it being used for this!**_

_**At least, I hoped to God she hadn't!**_

_**Deciding to abandon that train of thought for something much less disturbing, I picked up the bottle and brought it with me as I positioned myself on the bed behind him.**_

_**I had decided to do things a little differently.**_

_**Marvelling at his broad smooth shoulders – yum! – I lightly ran my fingertips over his glorious body, tracing each line of the elaborate artwork that adorned his skin.**_

_**Starting at his neck, I ran them slowly down his spine, back up and over his shoulders, right down the length of his arms. He shivered as I ran my nails up his spine and continued up to lightly scratch his scalp.**_

_**Bringing my hands back to his shoulders, I began to massage them. Kneading and working out any knots and kinks I found. **_

_**I took my time, partly because I wanted him to enjoy it, but mainly I was just enjoying touching him. **_

_**Little Miss Perv, come take a bow.**_

_**I leaned forward so that my nipples just barely touched his back. He turned his head to grin at me, but kept his eyes closed.**_

_**Good boy.**_

_**I reached for one of the bottles of water he'd brought up with him and unscrewed the lid. I dipped my finger in the top then dropped an ice cold droplet right down his spine.**_

_**I may have silently laughed my ass off, as he almost shot off the bed.**_

_**The next drop I caught with a kiss, and the next, and the next, with each one starting and ending at a different point on his back.**_

_**As much fun as that was, I was desperate to try some of that caramel. Preferably when it's dribbled all over his delicious abs. Hmmmm...**_

_**I slid off the bed and knelt in front of him. Shifting so that I was kneeling between his legs meant that I was now just about face to face with his crotch. But being so close to 'The Bulge' – while a highly interesting place to be – was not on my immediate agenda. Just then, anyway, so I tried my best to keep my mind focused on what I wanted to do.**_

_**I grabbed the caramel and squirted a little on each of his nipples. Aiming to do the same as he'd done to me. **_

_**I leaned in to lick the sticky goodness of his left nipple as I reached around to drag my nails down his back. He hissed at the sensation, while I continued to gently tease him with my teeth and tongue. He hummed softly as I repeated the process on his other side.**_

_**To his credit, he held completely still. Only the change in his breathing let on that he was affected at all.**_

_**He tasted phenomenal. I think there'd be thousands of women suffering from Type 2 diabetes if 'Caramel Covered Jasper' was ever available on a menu somewhere. **_

_**It was as I leaned back to savor the taste of him – and stare shamelessly at his gorgeous body – that I noticed, he'd also brought up honey and chocolate sauce.**_

_**How does Sookie put it? "**_**_Yikes. Yahoo. Yum.__" _**

_**Couldn't have put it better myself, girl!**_

_**I decided right then and there, that I only ever wanted to eat dessert if I could use this man as a plate. **_

_**An incredible, tanned and well toned plate...**_

_**Um...right... **_

_**Back to business!**_

_**I could not decide which of the three I wanted to lick off him first, so I did the only sensible thing.**_

_**I would do all three at once.**_

_**I communicated that I wanted him to lie back by pushing gently against his shoulders. He obliged and settled himself on his elbows so that he wasn't completely flat against the bed.**_

_**I squeezed a line of caramel, and one of honey along each side of the delicious 'V' that disappeared into his boxers, and a line of chocolate down the middle of his eight pack.**_

_**I went with the honey first, licking and nibbling all along that sweet trail. Discovering, as I went, that he had the same sensitive spot by his hip.**_

_**Caramel came next, and I could tell he was trying very hard not to move. His hands were balled up into fists at his sides.**_

_**Lastly, it was the line of chocolate.**_

_**Now that was by far the messiest of the three, but damn if it wasn't the most delicious!**_

_**I couldn't contain the moan that escaped me as I tasted my way down the chocolate trail to the now full on marquee he was sporting in those tight black Calvins.**_

_**His muscles twitched as I moved lower and lower. But as much as I wanted to rip those damn boxers off him, I refrained.**_

_**I opted instead for more chocolate.**_

_**Feeling a little creative, I began making patterns with the chocolate and taking great pleasure in eating it all off again. After writing 'MINE' all across his stomach, I heard him chuckle and looked up to see a beautiful smile spreading across his angel's face.**_

"_**I like that, Darlin'."**_

"_**What, the chocolate?" I grinned.**_

"_**No, the artwork." He laughed.**_

"_**Hmm, are you sure? It really is good." I licked the 'I' just to prove my point.**_

"_**Is that right?" **_

_**He ran a finger through the letter 'M', scooping some of the chocolate onto his finger. Then he smeared it in a line down my neck and pulled me on top of him so he could lick it off.**_

"_**Hmm, you're right. That is good." **_

_**He carried on 'tasting' the chocolate, though I was positive there couldn't be any left...**_

I felt Jasper kiss the top of my head, and I knew he was finally awake. I kissed his chest in reply and he pulled away from me enough so that I could raise my head to look at him.

"Mornin', Darlin'." He mumbled sleepily.

"Hey." I whispered. I may have been awake a while, but he was clearly ready to go back to sleep.

"What time is it?"

"I don't know." I chuckled, softly. "I'll get my phone and check."

I started to roll away from him to look for my phone, but his arms encircled me, effectively pinning me against him.

"Forget the time. I don't care enough for you to get that fine ass outta my bed."

"Hmm..." There were no words as far as I was concerned. I was just too content to lie all tangled up with my man.

Our tranquil little bubble burst, however, by the sound of the front door opening and closing.

Vic had returned home. I thought, at first, that she was with someone, but it became clear she was on the phone.

"...Yeah, I just got back...nah, no sign of 'em...Behave yourself, Ali! ...No, I'm not gonna knock on the damn door! I'll get her to call you when they surface...Yeah, okay...talk to you later, baby."

Jasper and I turned to look at each other, and saw the same smile on each other's face.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Hello all! **_

_**So in my rush to post the last chapter, I forgot to say my 'Hello's and 'Thank you's and the inevitable disclaimer. So...**_

_**A big thank you to Majors Darlin twilightnemo jenni80 LithiumReaper deerslayer1100 TwilightAddict71484 JaspersBella Nyx Nuit for their great reviews (and to the author of the annonymous review, which was lovely, too). Boob squeezes to Mxpi1970 for being awesome. And Emmett sized hugs to Mambomama my beautiful Beta. Love you, lady!**_

_**All characters belong to SM, but what I do with Jasper in my own mind is all me. ;)**_

**Jasper POV**

My sister sounded happier than I'd heard her in years, and I had my girl in my arms. This day couldn't get any better.

When we heard Vic talking on the phone, I knew she'd been talkin' to Alice. Those two had been inseparable since we came back. The smile that lit up Bella's face when we heard her calling Alice 'baby' told me that she knew there was somethin' goin' on there.

"Those two as well, huh?" I asked, glad that she didn't seem to be bothered about the fact that Vic preferred women. Of course, I never thought she'd be the type that would mind, but I was relieved all the same. Especially, as it seems Alice and Vic were as taken with each other as we were.

"Yeah, I'm glad. Those two have had the googly-eyes for one another since you guys first stepped foot in the bar." She smiled, and I thought she was remembering that we'd done much the same thing.

"I didn't know Ali was into women, does her family know?"

I figured Emmett would have mentioned it if his baby sister had come out.

"No, they don't. I'm the only one she's told, so far, and she only told me the other day. Remember we went out for a smoke just after you got there?" I nodded, "That's when she told me. She was getting jealous that Vic was grinning at me."

"Vic was grinning at you?" I asked, absentmindedly drawing circles on her bare back with my fingertips.

"It was more like a smirk. She was amused by my less than subtle reaction to you." She blushed then, and I loved that, after last night, she was still a little embarrassed.

"It was pretty funny, Darlin'." I whispered, kissing the top of her head to hide my laughter.

"By the way, was it her who christened me Snow? What is she taking about, I'm not that pale, am I?"

"It was Vic. She says you remind her of Snow White. Beautiful, with pale skin, beautiful dark hair and breasts so luscious they make you want to stick your head right in between 'em."

"She said all that?" She asked, incredulously.

"Well, that last bit about your breasts was me, but the rest was all her."

She laughed and pulled me closer, which I happily allowed. We lay there, just holding each other, for a while until I felt her breathing slow as she fell back to sleep.

My eyes wandered over her porcelain skin as she slept. As I did, I noticed the chocolate handprint on the headboard above her head.

God, but that was hot.

It was sticky as fuck, of course, but definitely hot as hell. But then, cleaning the stuff off us was just as fun.

_**By the time we came up for air, it was safe to say that we were all but stuck together. Which was fun, but getting pretty uncomfortable.**_

_**The stuff had settled quite decisively in my happy trail and I was fairly certain that it would be able to rip the damn hairs out if it stayed on much longer!**_

"_**Baby?" She asked, in between kisses.**_

"_**Hmm..."**_

"_**This stuff tasted great, but I think if we stay like this much longer, it may take skin with it when we separate." **_

_**I just chuckled as she tentatively pulled herself away, wincing in anticipation of pain which, thankfully, didn't come. Though, we were absolutely covered in chocolate. **_

_**So were the sheets. Sorry, Esme.**_

"_**Oh shit, Jasper. Look at your sheets!" Bella gasped as she saw the chocolate smears and smudges. There was a pretty spectacular ass print – only spectacular as it was clear that it was hers. **_

"_**Yeah, why don't you get cleaned up, and I'll put these in the wash."**_

_**There was no embarrassment from her as she untangled herself from the bed sheets. Though, she did manage to summon up a beautiful shade of crimson when she saw the ass print.**_

_**She padded to the en-suite bathroom, not seeming to care that she was in her underwear. After a few minutes, I heard the shower turn on.**_

_**She's in the shower...**_

_**She's in the shower, which means she's naked...**_

_**Naked and in the shower...**_

_**It was suddenly imperative that I get that bedding downstairs to the washer so I could get back up here. I jumped up and off the bed, narrowly missing the bottle of honey, and stripped the bed of its sheets.**_

_**I was about to run the sheets down to the basement and put them in to wash when I remembered that Vic was home, and I was decidedly naked.**_

_**I dug my phone out of my jeans pocket, and saw that it was 9.15am. Plenty of time to sort this mess out. **_

_**Bella's shower, on the other hand, would not last that long.**_

_**Unless I joined her.**_

_**I probably shouldn't have, but as I stood there warring with myself over the ethics of hopping into the shower with a girl I'd only known for a couple of days, I heard her singing to herself. Any thoughts of being a gentleman and waiting my turn flew straight out the window.**_

_**I took some courage from the fact that she'd left the bathroom door ajar, I quietly slipped through the door.**_

_**As the door closed behind me, Bella stopped singing and peeked over her shoulder.**_

"_**I wondered if you'd decide to join me. What are you waiting for, Cowboy?"**_

_**Bella POV**_

_**The smirk that spread across Jasper's face made my body flush with anticipation. Quite a feat when I was standing in a deliciously hot shower already.**_

_**I shivered as he opened the glass door to the shower and the cold air hit me.**_

_**My nipples immediately hardened at the sudden change in temperature. Naturally, that was the first thing Jasper noticed as he shut the door behind him.**_

_**He stepped towards me and wrapped his long arms round my waist. My fingers found their way to his hair, once again. He bent his head to kiss me, and I stood on my tip toes to meet him half way.**_

_**The sweet aroma of chocolate and caramel swirled around me, and I realised that Jasper was still covered in chocolate. He seemed to realise that at the same time, as he broke the kiss and chuckled softly to himself.**_

"_**Sorry darlin'. You're all covered in chocolate again."**_

"_**Yeah, I see that. I just got clean, too."**_

"_**Well, I'll just have to soap you up again. Don't worry, I'm very thorough; I'll make sure I haven't missed any."**_

"_**Me first, Cowboy."**_

_**I took my time, savoring the feel of his smooth skin under my hands. I'd seen, touched and tasted his chest earlier, and that had been divine. But I couldn't help the gasp, which quickly turned into a giggle, as I my hands found, and paid particular attention to, his ass.**_

_His smooth, tight, biteable...erm...where was I?_

_**All too soon, the sticky confectionary was gone, and I had no excuse for the way I was touching him. Not that he seemed to mind.**_

_**He stilled my hands and pulled me in for a searing kiss before pulling away and grinning.**_

"_**My turn." He all but growled. I was certain that if I'd been wearing panties, they'd have melted at those two little words.**_

_**He took the soap from me, lathered up his hands and set it back in the little niche in the wall.**_

_**He started with my arms, taking each one and massaging the suds from my hands to my shoulders. He turned me round, gathered my hair together, tucked it over one shoulder and began the same process over my back. His hands applied the perfect amount of pressure to leave me as as boneless as possible and still remain standing.**_

_**His skilful hands disappeared, only to return at my ankle. I had to stifle a moan as he knelt behind me and his fingers worked themselves higher and higher, brushing –but not lingering – where I wanted them the most.**_

_**Truth be told, it was an entirely different part of his anatomy that I wanted there the most, but we'd already agreed that wasn't going to happen tonight.**_

_Damn it!_

_**I was pulled out of my internal grumbling by his hands on my hips turning me to face him. The smirk on his face was – for want of a better word – devilish.**_

_**He began to lay gentle kisses across my stomach, once again finding that spot inside my hip, and my insides coiled in anticipation.**_

_**I might not be able to have his cock, but I was sure I was-**_

_!_

_**All thought ceased as his fingers slipped between my folds and I felt his tongue flick against my clit.**_

_**I felt more than heard his chuckle as I my whole body twitched. **__Asshole._

_**There was nothing for it. I held on to the shower stall for dear life as he slung my left leg over his shoulder and began to tease me with his long fingers.**_

_**He played my body like he'd play his favorite guitar and his mouth worked me into a frenzy. His tongue was magic and, together with those talented digits, I was soon on my way to a mind blowing orgasm.**_

_**The heat of the shower and the intensity of my impending release made it difficult to catch my breath. Luckily, Jasper had mercy on me and, with a final curl of his fingers, he bit down on my clit and the world exploded behind my eyelids.**_

"_**Holy fuck, J! You're going to need to hold me up because I seriously don't think my legs work anymore!" I chuckled, half serious as I came down from my glorious high.**_

_**He gently lifted my leg off his shoulder and set it down before wrapping me up in his arms.**_

"_**Aw, Snow. You are doin' wonders for my ego."**_

_**I laughed and kissed the spot over his heart.**_

_**He'd just given me the orgasm of my life – in a shower, no less – then had me giggling like a school girl in the next minute. **_

_**I could really fucking love this guy.**_

_**Shit...**_

_So...? Click that little review button and tell me what you think. Also tell me if you'd like a Victoria POV. Mwah!xx_


	17. Chapter 17

**Happy New Year!**

**Well, let me start by apologising for being absent these last few months. Writer's block hit me hard. I knew where the story need to go, but I couldn't find the words to get it there. I wasn't willing to post any ol' shite, as it wouldn't be fair to all you lovely people who've stuck with me thus far. **

**Happily, I had a breakthrough at the end of last week, and due to the fact that my beta Mambomamma is a wonderful, beautiful and magnificent woman (and she is) the turn around between me finishing the next few chapters and her getting them back to me was about a day and a half. Which considering the time difference and the fact that she had a plumbing crisis in that time, is pretty fucking good going, I'd say.**

**Special bewb squidges to Mxpi1970 and JaspersBella.**

**So, without further ado, here is a brand-spanking new chapter for you. It's a little bit of fluff to ease you back in gently. The next chap will be back to Bella POV, but for now, I'm handing the story telling over to Victoria. I hope you enjoy.**

**As always, I don't own the characters. Though I did experience my own 'Jasper Induced Stupidity' when I met Mr Rathbone in December. He was lovely, but he did chuckle when I may - or may not - have breathed the words 'fuck me...' as I turned to walk away. But it was his fault for smirking that damn smirk at me. It's odd seeing it in real life after you've written the fictional version of it so many times!**

**Love you guys. **

**V****ictoria POV**

I was just pulling onto the driveway when my phone rang. I pulled it out of my bag as I killed the engine and saw it was Alice.

"Hey Ali-Cat. I just left your place, you miss me already?" I laughed into the phone.

_"**Of course, I do."**_ She giggled. Though, I knew exactly why she was calling.

"Right. You just want to know what Bella and Jasper have been up to."

_"**What? No, I don't I-"**_

"Alice..."

_"**Okay, fine! Guilty as charged. Soooooo? Are you home yet?"**_ I could practically hear her bouncing.

I opened the door which, since it was unlocked, I guessed they'd been too busy to lock it the night before...

"Yeah, I just got back."

I began making my way up the stairs. My new bed was calling to me, and I intended to make the most of the quiet house.

_"**Are they up yet?"**_

"Nah, no sign of them."

_"**Really? Oh. Well, that's boring. Can't you-"**_

"Behave yourself, Ali!"

_"**But-"**_

"No. I'm not going to knock on the damn door!" _God, but that girl had no patience._ "I'll get her to call you when they surface."

_"**Okay...spoil sport,"**_ she chuckled _**"Call me later?"**_

"Yeah, okay."

_"**Bye, hun."**_

"Talk to you later, baby."

First order of business after hanging up the phone and setting my bag on the dresser, was to take these boots off. They're so unbelievably pretty, but I swear whoever made them hates feet. There's no other excuse I can think of why they'd make them so damn uncomfortable!

I could hear the water running in what I guessed to be J's en suite.

_You better have left me enough hot water, brother._

Figuring, I had better jump in the shower before the hot water ran out for sure, I stripped off and headed to my bathroom.

Well, I must have had the quickest shower on record. It could only been two minutes before the water started to run cold. Thankfully, I hadn't intended to wash my hair. That would have been a pain in the ass...

I dried off quickly, and rummaged in my drawers for some comfy sweatpants and a hoodie and crawled into bed.

Try as I might, though, I couldn't fall back to sleep.

I heard Bella's laughter drift down the hall and smiled. I'd had to stifle my own laughter when I first met her.

On seeing J, her jaw dropped and her eyes had almost popped out of her head like something out of a cartoon. I don't think I'd truly ever known the meaning of the phrase 'eye-fucking' until that moment. Best of it was that it seemed completely involuntary.

She really didn't seem to realize she was doing it. Then Ali threw an ice cube down her shirt and she jumped a mile.

I'd liked her immediately.

Those two had hit off right from the start, and I was happy for my brother. It'd been a long time since he'd shown any interest in a girl, much less one he was obviously so into.

When I heard that she didn't know we were famous, I knew that was it. She wasn't going anywhere, unless he screwed things up. Which was something I knew he wouldn't do. They just seemed to fit, like they'd been seeing each other for weeks, not just a couple of days.

_What a couple of days it had been._

I hadn't known Alice was into women. As it turned out, she'd only just decided for herself, and in fact, only Bella knew.

As we talked about it, she told me that she was worried about coming out to her folks. She didn't think her brothers and the rest of the gang would react badly, but she was worried about her dad.

I could understand that, I was petrified about telling my folks, but J was holding my hand the whole time. It helped that my then-girlfriend, Jane, had been there, too. They had liked her, and they saw how happy I was, so there wasn't much they could say.

After the shock wore off, anyway!

She asked if I would be there when she told them, and I immediately agreed. This was huge for her, and I wanted to make it as easy for her as I could. _Lord knows I'd been there._

Plus, I reckon their faces will be a picture. I love them both, who wouldn't? They're such lovely people.

But they sure as hell wouldn't see that coming, that's for damn sure!

...

I'd been in bed for about half an hour and still showing no signs of falling asleep, so I reluctantly hauled myself out of the toasty little duvet cocoon I'd made for myself. I pulled on my Uggs and headed out of my room and down the hall to J's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" I heard him holler, so I let myself in and tried not to smirk as I spotted various bottles of sweet stuff normally reserved for pancakes and waffles sitting on his bedside table.

_Ooooooh, waffles...great, now I'm hungry._

J was leaning on a stack of pillows that were resting against the headboard and Bella was tucked into his side. Thankfully, they were clothed. Well, I say _they _were. J had on sweats and a grey wife beater. But Bella had on his Kiss t shirt from the other night and what appeared to be a pair of his boxers. Clean ones, I hoped.

"Aw, look at you two," I cooed as I shut the door and perched on the end of the bed.

_Is that a fucking handprint?_

"Fuck off, Vic," he chuckled as Bella blushed furiously.

"Hey now, Snow. We talked about this. No need to be getting all embarrassed. I didn't come in to torment you."

She smiled and seemed to relax again.

"So, I'm guessing you two had a good night, huh?" I grinned.

"Put the eyebrow down, Red, and get your mind out the gutter," he laughed.

"Can you blame me when there's a fuckin' handprint on the headboard?"

His jaw dropped, and she buried her face into his chest in mortification.

"Looks to me like you two had a great night, whatever you did _or didn't_ do."

"We did. Have a great night, that is. How was _yours_?"

I heard the double meaning in his words, and noticed Bella's eyes twinkling as she removed her face from J's chest and waited for me to answer.

"My night was just fine, thank you." I answered, deliberately vague.

Bella may be seeing my brother, but she only just found out that her best friend is interested in women, let alone knowing that friend was apparently seeing someone.

"You know, it's more than ok if you and Alice are together, Vic." She said as she manuvered herself away from Jasper, and across the bed to me. "I can't think of anyone better for her."

_Say what, now?_

I was floored.

"I saw you two talking in the kitchen after we got in from the bar the other night. I left right away because I didn't want to intrude, but she looked so happy. What is it about you Whitlocks?"

"Thanks, Snow."

She leaned forward and hugged me. I glanced over her shoulder at Jasper, and he looked so happy.

Think that boy is very much in danger of falling hard for Ms Swan.

I don't mind one bit.

...

An hour later, and Bella and I were curled up on the sofa in the den, while we sent Jasper out for supplies. And by that, of course, I mean tequila, oven bake pizzas and Ben & Jerrys.

In other words, everything you need for an epic girl's night.

Much to Jasper's chagrin, we had decided a little later that day – over coffee (thanks again, Esme) – that we should really get to know each other better if we were going to be spending so much time together.

Apparently, he didn't want to share her.

_Tough titties, brother of mine!_

Bella had taken him upstairs, supposedly to try to make him feel better about her choosing to spend the day with me, and judging by the giggling and the odd thumping noise here and there, I'd say she was making him feel goddamn peachy.

She reappeared a while later wearing one of Jasper's hoodies and a shit-eatin' grin on her face.

"He feelin' better?" I smirked as she reclaimed her seat next to me.

"He is, but he's still sulking a little, I think." She giggled as I tossed the end of the throw blanket over her legs.

"Ah...Well, that answers that question."

"What question."

"The question of whether you took Emmett's advice or not."

I tried not to laugh as she slowly registered what I meant.

"Gah! You heard about that? Oh my _God_. Kill me now," she moaned as she attempted to smother herself with one of the sofa cushions.

"Oh calm down, woman!" I laughed, tugging the cushion away from her "Char told me after I asked why you guys were playing 'Save a horse'."

"Fucking witches..." I heard her mutter. "Well that's completely mortifying, but why does him sulking still answer that question?"

"Well, if you guys had been doin' the horizontal tango, he would definitely not be sulkin', now would he?"

"_The what?_" Bella was laughing so hard she couldn't even speak.

We were still giggling like school girls when J sauntered in properly dressed and pretending to sulk.

"Aw, now come on, brother. Don't you want us to be friends?" I teased.

"Yeah, J. Don't worry, I'm sure she won't tell me any embarrassing stories about you."

I had to hand it to her, she kept a completely straight face as we continued to yank his chain.

"Haha, laugh it up, Red. But I'll get my own back, just wait."

"My god, J. You sound like you should be standing there twirling your super villain moustache or something!" I cackled – yeah, I said cackled.

"You won't be laughing when I take a marker pen to your shoes, Vic. Just a tiny dot, you won't know where it is, or on which pair of shoes, but you'll know there _is_ one somewhere."

"You wouldn't!"

"Wouldn't I? You'll never know..." I was horrified, but he just turned and began to leave.

Then he turned back around and spoke to Bella – who was chuckling quietly to herself.

"As for you, darlin', you're not the only one who likes to tease."

Her jaw dropped and her mouth formed a perfect comical 'O' as he simply smirked and left the room. The front door closing a few minutes later broke us out of our shock.

"He wouldn't, would he?" I said to no one in particular.

"You're asking me? I don't know, Vic, but I have a horrible feeling he would."

Damn it, that'll teach me to make him sit through box set after box set of Big Bang Theory.

_Damn you, Penny..._

But you know what? Screw that, I need details.

Well, not _all_ the details, obviously. I have no inclination to hear all the gory details of their business. However, I do want to know if she's ok. If they're on the path I think they're on, they are going to get real serious, real fast. And that's gotta be scary as hell.

Apparently, I was not the only one who wanted to know. We'd just gotten to the events of last night when we heard the front door open and close.

Rose and Char strolled into the den, bags in hand, and promptly got themselves comfortable.

_Well hell, girls. Say hello at least!_

"Sorry to hijack your movie night, but the man love between those three idiots was getting too much," grimaced Char as Rose nodded in agreement.

We found out later that Jasper had driven over to Peter and Char's, where Emmett and Rose had been having dinner, to grab Peter for some catching up time. The fact that Em was there too, was a bonus, and evidently, he'd gone to get all the stuff the girls had asked him to and sent it off with Rose and Char.

I sent Ali a quick text to let her know about the impromptu girls' night, but she had already made plans to go for dinner at Edward's house.

That night, we ate shit, talked crap and drank a little too much – for those who had to work the next morning, anyway – and generally had a great night getting to know each other. It felt good to be back with Char, and Rose and Bella were just a lot of fun.

Coming back to Washington was shaping up to be the best idea we'd ever had.

_**So that's a little insight into Victoria. Hope you liked it, back to Bella next time. Oh, and the Big Bang Theory reference is a nod to DecemberLenoir who is as much of a Sheldon nut as me! lol **_

_**If you're feeling generous, I'd love for you to drop me a line. xxx**_


	18. Chapter 18

_**Hello!**_

_**Me again. See, I'm trying, another update a week after the last one. LOL.**_

_**Big hugs to all of you who took the time to read the last chapter and bewb squidges for everyone who reviewed. Mxpi you randy bitch, I do love your reviews. They never fail to make me grin in a very Jasper-like fashion. Welcome, also, to .bee who dropped me a review. Turns out we were both at the 100 Monkeys gig in Manchester last month. Nice to hear I wasn't alone in my swooning... ;)**_

_**I love hearing from you all. So please click that little button! Reviews are incentives, and the more I get, the quicker Jasper gets to some schmexin'...**_

_**SM owns the characters, I own the plot and Jasper owns me. Last time we had a little time out, and heard from Vic, now we're back to Bella. Enjoy!**_

**Bella POV**

It had been eight days since the Whitlocks had appeared in the bar.

Eight days since Jake broke up with me.

Eight days since I'd met Jasper.

Eight days to realize how different things were with Jasper than they had been with Jake.

Jake was sweet. He really was. But it always felt like work to some extent. But even though (like Jake) Jasper doesn't work with us, it doesn't matter.

He's content to let the stupid jokes, and work humour wash over him. It gets explained, but he doesn't really care. He's just content to be back here. I'm not fighting to compromise my time between him and my friends either, because we all want to spend time together.

_Though our alone times, are plentiful and so fucking hot._

We still hadn't taken that final step together, even if we had come as close as it was possible to get. I knew it would happen soon, but I didn't feel any pressure for it to. We both knew it was inevitable, but there was simply no rush.

Tonight is dinner at Carlisle and Esme's house.

Turned out that when Edward had mentioned it to Ali – and subsequently us – it was meant as a welcome home for J and Vic. Esme had known they were moving back to Washington for weeks before they actually did, but kept it quiet so they could surprise Em and Peter.

As I stood in front of my full length mirror, trying to decide if I should go with jeans, jeans, or jeans (yes, I have a whole kaleidoscope of denim to chose from); I heard a high pitched screech, which could only come from my pint-sized best friend.

Sure enough, I padded down the hall, pushed open her bedroom door, and found her sitting in the middle of a clothing pile that had clearly been pulled from her closet. Her face was in her hands and she was shaking her head as she mumbled something that was too low for me to hear.

"Ali? Hon, what's the matter?"

I carefully picked my way across the clothing minefield that was her bedroom floor – because as stressed as she seemed to be, I was certain she'd notice if I stepped on something – and gently pulled her hands away from her face.

"Alice?" She looked so frightened. It broke my heart, and I could only guess that she'd decided that tonight would be the night she would tell everyone her big news.

_Yeah, I'd be shitting a brick the size of a Buick too, if I were in her shoes._

She still hadn't said anything as I took her hands, stood her up and led over to sit on the edge of her bed.

"So, I'm guessing tonight's the night, huh?"

She nodded, her eyes flicking rapidly around the room, as if they would find some sort of answer to how the news would be received.

"Are you really that scared about how they'll react?"

Again, she simply nodded. Her eyes were closed as if she were already fearing the worst, and was bracing herself for their reactions.

"Oh, honey."

I pulled her into my side and held her tight, trying to reassure her without words that I was, and would always be, there for her.

"You know I'll be there for you, sweetie. I'll even hold your hand when you tell them if you need me to. But I truly don't think you will."

A disbelieving little huff was the only indication that she'd heard me.

"I'm serious, Ali." I pulled away and turned her to face me. "Now, I'm not saying that there aren't going to be some shocked and stunned people when you drop this little bomb of yours. That would be absurd. But that's NOT to say that they won't be perfectly fine with it once the shock has worn off."

For the first time since I entered her room, she looked directly at me, and the fear that was evident in her eyes pierced me. She really was petrified.

"Now, you listen to me Alice Cullen. Everyone who is going to be in that house tonight loves you, none more so than me. Well, perhaps your parents...and your brothers...anyway, the point is it will be scary as all fuck. _BUT _once they know, it won't make the slightest bit of difference to them."

"Really?" It was a whisper, but it was progress.

"Really, really. Of course, Emmett and Peter will probably make a joke or two, but honestly, when don't they?"

A tiny, half smile touched the corner of her mouth, and I knew the immediate panic was over. Though I was positive she'd freak out again before we got to the house later.

"Will you be ok to get ready now, hon?"

She didn't speak, just nodded and gave me a quick hug before disappearing into the depths of her closet.

_Ah...finding solace in her shoe collection. 'Atta girl._

With a final glance at my scared friend, I went back to my room to finish getting ready (I'd decided to go with the jeans...).

Before I began rummaging through my jewelry box I grabbed my phone and sent a quick text to my newest friend, and the only person I knew could help Alice.

**Hey! All set for 2nite? You know**

**Esme is going to be over-compensating **

**for not being able to cook for you for **

**all these years! Hope you haven't eaten **

**in the last couple of days. Listen, I'm **

**worried about Ali. Think she needs some**

**advice. And maybe some Xanax. Lol. ~B x**

I was just about to set to work to free my favorite necklace from the snares of a tangled mess of other chains and earrings that had seemingly decided to play twister since the last time I organized the damn things, when I got a text back. Quickly followed by a second.

The first read...

**Hey Snow. In no way prepared 4**

**feast Ms E has prob laid out! That's **

**a job 4 Em! Almost done getn ready.**

**Be over in 20. Red x**

I smiled, knowing that Vic had been through this before with her own family. She'd be able to calm Alice down, or at the very least, distract her enough so she doesn't have a full on panic attack.

No joke, I seriously thought she was headed that way.

The second text read...

**Vic just told me about Ali.**

**Is she doin' ok? Vic was a mess **

**too. She'll get thru it just fine darlin'. **

**We'll be there with her. And I'll **

**be with you in 15. We're gonna pick **

**you both up. You got shotgun ;) -J**

At least five minutes went by, before I realized I'd been grinning at my phone like a complete idiot and I still had to extract my chain from that metallic mess.

Another five minutes gone, and I was in the bathroom checking that my eyeliner hadn't smudged and left me with panda eyes.

Another ten minutes, and I was skipping – sadly, I'm not joking – down the stairs to answer the front door.

I pulled open the door, with a beaming smile, expecting the Whitlocks to be standing on the other side of it.

My smile promptly fell from my face when I saw that it wasn't them.

It was Jake.

**_*ducks* Sooooo...? What did you think? lol. I know it was short, but hopefully it was sweet. :D_**


	19. Chapter 19

_**Hey!**_

_**First of all, I'd like to thank tweethearts: JaspersWoman, TwiMuses and a whole bevvy of lovlies who take the time to Pimp A Fic. On the 19th Jan, they Pimped Maguire's (eeek!). So, to all my new readers, I'd like to say a massive hello. I didn't hear from many of you, but thank you so much for reading.**_

_**For my Maguire's Faithful, I say it every time, but I mean it...Thank you for sticking with me. I love that you keep reading and I love to hear from you.**_

_**Mambomamma, my beta beauty is - as ever - an angel. She's also had to beta a o/s for me this week, so hopefully she's not bored of me yet!. (My entry to the Countdown To Valentine's Day this year - an awesome collection of one shots by a bunch of brilliant writers. One anonymous o/s a day up til the big day itself. Then a collaboration to mark the day. Its run by breathoftwilight and it's just a lot of fun.)**_

**_Caramel-Covered-Jaspers go to_ millymollymanda mrsb1111-aka-theblondebella ellaryne Jasperaddict TwilightAddict71484 SAVAGEGRACEx TheBlackOne23 Mr. Shy Rockstar katandjasper MelissaJHackett2011 _and_ Nyx Nuit _for taking the time to review. Love you all!_**

_**SM owns everything, except the things Jasper does to me in my mind...**_

**Bella POV**

_JesusfuckingChrist...What the hell? _

_SHIT!_

"Jake? What are you doing here?"

He looked a little annoyed at that, but really, after the way things had ended last time we spoke, I hadn't expected to hear from again. Much less have him turn up on my doorstep.

With flowers. _Oh God..._

"Hello to you too, Bella."

"Sorry, I'm just a little surprised to see you." _Understatement of the century._

"Expecting someone else?"

It was obvious I had plans, and he inspected my outfit as if it could tell him what they were.

"I was as a matter of fact."

I was trying to stay calm, but it wasn't working. My poker face sucks, and the fact that I was repeatedly looking over his shoulder didn't help anything.

"Well, I'm sorry to disturb you. I thought maybe we could talk."

"Oh," was my oh-so-brilliant response. I really had no idea what to say to that.

Truth be told, I had barely thought about Jake in the week since we'd split up. As harsh as that sounds, it only cemented the conclusion that he and I would never work.

And yes, the fact that I was now involved – for lack of a better term – with Jasper was a factor in that; but other than feeling awful for hurting his feelings, I doubt I would be feeling different about the break up.

At that moment, Jasper's truck pulled up beside mine in my driveway, and I braced myself for the uncomfortable, and almost assuredly painful, introductions.

Jake turned to see who had arrived – no doubt expecting to see one, or more, of the others – only to be confused, then suspicious as he saw Jasper and Victoria approaching.

_Oh Jesus, here we go..._

"Hey guys!" I called to them as they arrived at the door "Victoria, Jasper, this is Jake. Jake, this is Victoria and Jasper Whitlock."

In any other situation (by that, I mean any that did not include me) I would have laughed at their simultaneous reactions.

Recognition flashed across Jasper's eyes, followed by calm with just a hint of amusement. _Huh...Better than expected..._

Victoria's jaw dropped in the best 'Oh Shit' expression I've ever seen. Though to her credit, she caught herself quickly and remembered to smile at Jake. To be honest, it was pretty funny, and almost unnoticeable. _Or it would have been if not for the not-so-subtle, panicked glance at me..._

Jake, on the other hand, seemed simultaneously surprised and annoyed, and - when he finally turned to me after shaking hands with the Whitlocks – accusatory. _Great..._

"More friends, Bella? You don't have enough already?" He sneered, not even attempting to hide his brewing anger.

"And you don't have to be so rude." I turned away from him and addressed Jasper and Victoria. "You guys go on inside, I won't be long."

Though neither of them seemed particularly happy to leave me alone with him, I knew I would be fine. He was angry, but he would never hurt anyone.

"So that's it? You can't even make time for me anymore?"

He had folded his arms across his huge chest and was looking down at me with a mixture of distain and disbelief.

"As I recall, you broke up with me. That pretty much negates any right you have to expect me to make time for you."

Before he could interrupt, with what I was sure would be a lengthy rant about our old relationship, I carried on.

"As for tonight, I've had these plans for over a week. You've turned up here unannounced at a time I had arranged to leave the house. If I was being picky, I would say that, in fact, _you_ are actually making _me_ late."

I left the heat out of my voice even though I was angry and anxious. It would do no good to get into an argument just then. I just really wanted to check on Alice.

"Right, well, I better let you get back to your _friends_."

I knew it was hurt pride and disappointment that was causing him to be so abrasive. But I was certainly not going to stand here and listen to it.

"Listen, I'm going to ignore the fact that you looked at Jasper and Victoria like they were something you found stuck to the bottom of your shoe. I'm _also_ going to ignore the fact that you're angry at me for already being on my way out when you decided to come round here without warning. You obviously wanted to talk, and I am genuinely sorry that I can't right now."

I took a breath, and raised a hand to the edge of the door.

Ready to shut it.

Quickly.

"I'll text you next week and we can meet up. I'm working late most of next week, so it's probably going to be the weekend. Is that alright with you?"

"Do I have a choice?" _What are you, eight? Seriously..._

"Of course you do. Though, I'm telling you know that if this is what you're going to be like, I'm not interested in seeing you again."

His arms dropped to his sides, and the anger faded.

"I'm sorry, Bella. Really, I am. I didn't expect you to be going out."

"It's not like it's an unusual occurrence."

It was a pitiful attempt to lighten the mood, but it seemed to work.

"That's true. I guess I wasn't expecting you to be so happy."

Fuck.

"It's ok, Bella. We'll talk another time."

With that, he turned and walked away.

As I closed the door, I heard the others mumbling and headed to find them. They were in the kitchen. Vic was sitting at the table with coffee in hand, Alice was next to her with what I guessed to be camomile tea and Jasper was standing up and leaning against the counter, arms folded with un unopened bottle of beer next to him.

He was staring at the door, presumably waiting for me to come back. But there was no annoyance or any other negative emotion showing on his face. Perhaps a little concern, but then the other two had the same expression.

"I'm fine, guys." I said, the minute I entered the room.

"What'd he want, B?" Alice asked as she took a sip from her tea.

_Well, at least she's calmed down._

"He just turned up wanting to talk."

"Just like that? No warning, he just showed up?" Vic was concerned, I could tell. Not just for me, but Jasper as well. I didn't blame her; if Jake decided to cause trouble, her brother would be in the middle of it.

"Yeah, I think he expected me to be sitting at home, moping. And, if I had felt that strongly about him, I probably would be. I think it's hurt his pride a little that I'm fine with the split."

"Well that's my fault, isn't it?" Alice said looking sad. "You said it yourself, B. It was me that pushed you to give him a chance and not to give up too quickly. You were right to want to end it before."

"Alice, don't blame yourself for this. There isn't even a problem yet, not that I think there will be. Yes, he was an ass, and I did chew him out about his manners. Sorry about that by the way, he's not normally so rude."

Vic snorted, I could tell she was thinking that he was probably just like that. _She's obviously got the 'Emmett and Peter' version of my relationship with Jake._

"It's done for now. I told him he couldn't be angry that I had plans, as he had turned up unannounced. I told him I'd text him next week so we could meet up and have this 'talk'. He needs to say his piece, and I need to tell him that it's definitely over. Plus, he needs to know that I'm with someone else."

I looked over at Jasper and tentatively smiled. I wasn't sure how he would react to my ex just showing up at my door. My worries were unfounded though, as he opened his arms to me and I immediately went to him.

His arms wrapped around me and I snuggled into his lovely chest. He smelled wonderful, as always, and the tension just left my body.

"Don't worry darlin', I'm not goin' anywhere," he whispered in my ear as he leaned down to kiss my shoulder.

"Good."

There was no other response I could give. He was here; he wasn't leaving and I didn't want him to. At that moment, I was sure I never wanted him to. And that thought didn't scare me as much as I thought it should.

I turned around, staying in the comforting circle of Jasper's arms, and looked to Alice.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?"

"Better. Thanks, B. It definitely helps to know I have someone in my corner already."

"You got three 'someone's, Ali." Jasper assured her.

"He's right, Ali-Cat. You're my girl, and I'll be right there with you."

That was the first time either Jasper or I had heard one of them confirm they were a couple. I turned my head to see Jasper's reaction, and he looked just as happy as me.

Alice looked giddy. Clearly it was the first time she'd heard their relationship defined, too.

_Aw..._

We chatted about random things after that, and soon it was time to head to Carlisle and Esme's.

Alice's worry had returned but with Vic holding her hand, and the comfort of having their relationship defined, she was doing better than before.

Seeing her walk to the front door, full of the new confidence of knowing where she and Vic stood, I began to wonder about me and Jasper.

True, he'd said he wasn't going anywhere, and I'd made it clear I would be telling Jake that I was seeing someone, but was that enough of a definition? I certainly had no intention of looking for anyone else.

_I mean, come on...Why would I? Have you seen him?_

I stopped at the door to grab my jacket. He took it from me and held it out for me to slip my arms into (once again, _aw_...) and as I turned back around he took my face in his hands.

"You're _my_ girl, Bella. You know that, right?"

"I do now," I answered, slipping my arms around his waist. "Are you mine, Cowboy?"

"Sure am, sweetheart."

And then he kissed me.

And kissed me.

And kissed me some more.

Until a loud honking sound reminded us that we were supposed to be leaving.

"Save that thought, darlin'." He chuckled as we broke apart and headed out the door.

_**So...? What did you think? I thought it'd be nice to see a a Jasper who doesn't feel the need to get territorial, who is comfortable in who he is and who he is to Bella. How about the attitude on Jake? Come on, let me know what you think.**_

_**Next up, is the dinner at Carlisle and Esme's. And don't worry, that wasn't the last time we'll see Jake and Jasper...teehee.**_


	20. Chapter 20

**_Happy New Year!_  
**

**_So, I'm back. A thousand apologies for there being so much time between updates. Real life got in the way. Not the most original excuse, but it's the truth. Between children, job hunting, losing our house, having to stay with my folks and moving into a new place it's been a busy few months._**

**_I have felt guilty for leaving you hanging and I'm thankful to any/all of you who have stuck with me thus far._**

**_I'm a few chapters ahead so updates should come regularly. This is only a short chapter so I'll likely post the next one straight after. Hopefully you'll like it. _**

**_xxxxx_**

**_As always, I own nothing. More's the pity._**

**Bella POV**

It wasn't long before we were pulling up the long drive to Carlisle and Esme's house.

Of course, I'm using the term 'house' loosely. It was really a mansion, but they'd scold you if you ever said so. I'm sorry, Esme. You can try all you want, but a house that size is only lucky no-one calls it a freakin' castle.

It took a few minutes to prize Alice from the back seat, but eventually we were knocking on the front door. It only took a few seconds before it was opened to reveal Esme standing there with a winning smile on her lovely face.

"Hello, sweetheart." she said as she hugged Alice, who was clutching desperately to the bottle of wine she'd brought with her.

"Hi, Mom."

"Bella, dear. How are you? You look lovely."

I turned into a little girl at her sweet, motherly greeting and returned her hug.

"And look at you two! My goodness. I can't believe how long it's been since I saw you."

The twins, smiled warmly at her as she kissed each of them lightly on the cheek, before ushering us all inside.

I saw Vic take Alice's hand and give it a reassuring squeeze, as we followed the Cullen matriarch down the hall.

"'Bout time!" Boomed Emmett, as we rounded the corner and into the living room.

"Now, Emmett. Just because you have the least patience of anyone I have ever known, does not mean you can accuse them of being late."

Carlisle Cullen chided his rowdiest son, before smiling warmly and approaching us.

"Bella. Lovely to see you, honey." He said as he bent to kiss my cheek.

"Jasper, Victoria, it's wonderful to see you both. It's been far too long. I hope you'll be here for a good while?"

Jasper extended his hand to meet Carlisle's and shook it as he replied "Yes, Sir. It has been a long time. We're glad to be back though, and as of now, we don't have any immediate plans to leave."

_I may have done a little internal jig, at that point..._

"Glad to hear it, Son."

"Jasper's right, Sir. It's great to be back home." Vic added as she reached up on her tip toes to peck him on the cheek.

Lastly, he turned to Alice.

"My baby girl."

He opened his arms, and enveloped her in one of those hugs that only a father can give their daughter. She'd looked so scared up until that point, but as soon as she stepped into his embrace, she seemed to calm.

"Hi, Daddy."

"Are you feeling ok, baby? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine. I promise."

As Alice tried to convince her father that she wasn't ill, we moved through the room to greet everyone else.

"So, Bella. You and Jasper, huh?" whispered Tanya, playfully waggling her eyebrows as we hugged 'hello'.

"Tanya, you're incorrigible!" I hissed as she no-so-subtly gave Jasper the once over before turning to give me a discreet – for her – thumbs up.

"Damn, B. You did good, girl!" She whispered, before sauntering off to find Edward.

I had to laugh. To most, Tanya comes across as some gold-digging, man-eater. But she's sweet, funny and incredibly intelligent. Her only problem, and it's not a problem to me, is that she has no subtlety whatsoever.

Which has sadly led some people to see her as an outrageous, man-stealing flirt. It's such a shame, as all she's really doing is congratulating you on your good taste in men. People seem to forget that she's a successful lawyer, and that she's married to Edward.

Soon it was time to sit down to dinner.

As always, Esme had outdone herself. The amount and quality of the food could have rivalled her Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners, but that just meant we would get to take the leftovers. Thinking about it, I think that may be her plan. Make too much, so we all get to take some home.

Bless her heart.

Conversation flowed smoothly, and so did the wine.

Jasper and I sniggered quietly, as every now and then Emmett would flinch, indicating that Rose had just kicked him under the table for saying something stupid or loud. The more wine he drank, the more he flinched.

Eventually though, it came time for dessert.

Now personally, I don't usually eat dessert (ignoring mine and J's exploration of caramel...ahem) but when Carlise is the one making it, I purposely leave plenty of room.

I know, Esme is the host, and the chef and the mother to us all, but it is Carlise that has the magic touch when it comes to desserts. If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, then the way to a woman's is through the perfection of that man's creations.

Just thinking about them makes my mouth water. _Wonder if Jasper would let me use him as a plate?_

_...Definitely worth thinking about._

After taking a quick peek at Alice to see how she was holding up, I excused myself and went to help Carlisle in the kitchen.

"Hey, Carlisle. Need any help?"

"Ah, my favourite helper." He chuckled as he noticed my eyes linger on the exquisite chocolaty creation he was carefully extracting from the fridge. "Are you always so helpful in the kitchen, or am I the exception?"

"Well, I like to do my share. But you know I like to help you."

"I do. It's because I let you have the best piece as a thank you for helping me."

"Exactly." I smirked and placed the scraped plates in the dishwasher.

"Bella, can I ask you something?"

I turned to face him, and saw worry etched on his handsome face.

"Of course, Carlisle. What is it?"

"Is there something the matter with Alice? She's so quiet. It's not like my baby girl to be so reserved at a family dinner. She's not in trouble, is she?"

I closed the door of the dishwasher and crossed the kitchen to stand in front of the man I looked up to as a father, more so then ever since my own amazing dad had passed away. I could see the concern for his little girl shining in his eyes and it warmed my heart that he cared about her so much.

"She's not in any trouble, Carlisle. You know I'd tell you if she was. I love her to pieces. But you should talk to her. It'll ease your mind to know for sure that she's okay. Would you like me to ask her to help you in here so you can?"

"Thank you, Bella."

I smiled reassuringly at him, gave his arm an affectionate squeeze and turned to leave the room when he added with a wink "Don't worry, you're still my favourite helper. Most chocolaty piece still goes to you!"

I left the room confident that what Alice feared the most would not happen. Her father loved her so much, that the news that she had for him wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference to their relationship.


	21. Chapter 21

_**Well, here you go. Another chapter to make up for the long absence. The last update was only a short one, hopefully this gives you a bit more. Hugs to my beautiful beta Mambomama. Love her!  
**_

_**I hope I don't upset anyone with this chapter, I don't think it should upset anyone, but I want to just put that out there anyway. **_

_**It's D-Day for Alice. Wish her luck!**_

_**Nothing is mine except the plot.**_

_**Alice POV**_

Dinner was going well.

I had managed to tame my nerves well enough, I hoped, with more than a little help from Victoria, but the longer we sat at that table, the more they began to creep back in again.

I mean, for crying out loud, what was I going to say?!

_Oh, by the way, just thought I'd let you know that I'm thinking of getting a new car. And that I like women. I'm actually thinking of getting a red car. It'll match my girlfriend's hair._

_Yeah, right._

Bella had excused herself to take plates into the kitchen, but returned soon after with a smile on her face as she headed towards me.

She leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Sweetie, your dad is asking for your help in the kitchen."

I don't know what flashed across my face at that moment, but at the same time, Bella gently squeezed my shoulder and Victoria squeezed the hand she'd been holding under the table.

"Um...okay."

"You'll be fine, Ali Cat. I'll come in there in a few minutes to get a glass of water, make sure you're ok. But I think you'll be just fine." Vic whispered as I began to rise from my chair.

I could feel myself shaking, and I willed my body to cooperate.

The sound of the kitchen door closing, sounded like a cannon blast to my poor, freaking out mind. Dad was clearly finished whatever he had been doing in the kitchen, and was leaning against the counter, just waiting for me.

"What's up, Daddy?"

I tried to go for 'happy and confident'. I ended up with 'high pitched and weird'.

"Baby girl, tell me what's wrong. I could always tell when you were worried about something, and I know you are now. Please, honey. It hurts me to see you upset."

He'd moved away from the counter and a few steps towards me, but stayed far enough to let me have the space he seemed to realise I needed to get whatever I was about to say, off my chest.

"Daddy, you're right. I am worried about something. But I'm fine. More than fine, actually. I'm just worried that you won't be when I tell you."

"What is it, honey? You know you can tell me anything."

Here it was.

Moment of truth time.

I must have looked like a fish, my mouth opening and closing so much as I tried to find the right words to say. But to his credit, he just stood there, calm and collected, just waiting. _There's that doctor's training coming to good use._

"Dad. I'm going to tell you something, and I don't want you to freak out."

"Okay..."

"I'm...um...I'm gay, Dad."

Time seemed to stretch on forever at that moment. His face expression remained unchanged for what seemed like an eternity – which in reality, was only a few seconds – before it relaxed into a happy smile and his arms opened for me as they had in the hallway earlier.

"Is that all, baby girl?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"Well, you clearly were beside yourself with worry over telling me this. You couldn't have thought I'd be upset with you, surely?"

I couldn't meet his eyes.

"Honestly? I didn't know how you'd react. I'm sorry."

"Honey, look at me. You're my baby girl, and I love you no matter what. Now tell me the rest."

"The rest?"

"Well, to be honest, I thought you were gearing up to tell me you were pregnant or something. Now I _know_ you telling me that was a huge thing to admit to me, but I can see that you're still holding something back. Do you have a girlfriend? Are you worried we won't approve?"

"Never could get anything past you, could I?"

He smiled and shook his head.

"You're right, though. I do have a girlfriend. She's wonderful."

"Well, that's great. So when do we get to meet her?"

With timing so perfect, that I wondered if she'd hung out at the other side of the door waiting for an entrance line, in walked Victoria.

"Sorry to interrupt, I just came in for a drink of water. You okay, Ali Cat?"

I couldn't help the smile from forming on my face as she passed us to grab a glass from the glass fronted cabinet and proceeded to fill it with ice cold water from the fridge.

We were silent as she completed her task, then with one last questioning glance, she left the room once again.

"Alice. I take it that I already know this wonderful girlfriend of yours?" Dad asked, with a curious expression on his face.

"You do."

_Short, succinct answers, Alice. The best way to navigate conversations when he gets his curious head on._

"Am I also to understand that I am only one of a few people who know this?"

"That's correct."

"I see. Are you planning on telling the others?"

"I still need to speak to Mom about it, but yes. I wanted to do it tonight, after I made sure you and Mom would support me."

I felt the tears welling in my eyes, and willed them away. Things had been going so well, but now he seemed to be closing up and, in my experience, that was never a good sign.

"How long?"

I didn't know if he was referring to how long I've known, or how long me and Victoria had been together? So I answered both.

"I've been coming to terms with this for the last six months, or so. Vic and I have only gotten to know each other since her and Jasper came back last week."

Once again, his face was unreadable, but thankfully, it softened back to the smile I loved so much.

"Well, in that case, I'd prepare to let the _Ali Cat_ out of the bag, honey." I laughed at his attempt to tease about Vic's nickname for me. He'd obviously picked up on it earlier.

"You think it'll be okay? Will Mom be okay with this?"

He took my hand in his and brought it up to his lips before resting it over his heart.

"Sweetheart. Your mother will not even bat an eyelash. If she can keep her head when she found her parents fooling around in the spare bedroom at Edward and Tanya's engagement party, I think she'll take this all in stride."

"Yeah, I guess you're r- wait, WHAT?!"

He was roaring with laughter, presumably from the look on my face, as he kissed my cheek, picked up the dessert tray, and strode out of the kitchen.

Leaving me with the mixed emotions of relief that things had gone smoother than I thought they would, and revulsion that Mom had caught Grams and Grandpa going at it.

_Poor, Mom. I think I'd need brain bleach, if it'd been me..._

So, okay. One down, one to go.

_Now where's Mom?..._

Turns out I didn't have to wait to find out, as she came bustling in to the kitchen muttering something about 'Emmett', 'bottomless pit' and not knowing 'how she puts up with him'.

She spotted me, after re-emerging from the pantry with what appeared to be a cheese board.

"Ah, there you are, honey. Are you ok? You and your father were in here a while. Emmett and his stomach were starting to protest."

She was smiling as she began to gather the various cheeses, crackers and various other bits and pieces.

_No time like the present. Rip of the Band Aid!_

"We're fine, Mom. I just had some news to share."

"Oh, really? Care to share it with me, too?" She asked curiously, as she paused her arranging of the board and gave me her undivided attention.

"Of course. You see, I have some news. Good news. But I needed to share it with you and Dad before I shared it with everyone else."

"Go on, sweetie."

"Well, okay. Mom, I'm with Victoria."

_There. Killing two birds with four little words._

"Jasper's Victoria?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before now, I've been sorting through my feelings for months, but just seeing her, I knew. I'm not rushing into anything, it's still so new to me. But I'm enjoying getting to know her. She's wonderful."

She seemed to have picked up Dad's 'think it through before you react' thing, as her face gave nothing away. I felt the need to keep talking, though.

"I wanted to speak to you and Dad before I told the rest of them. Well, Bella knows. I was upset and it all came out. But she's happy for me. _For us_. She's helped me, a lot. Knowing how scared I was to tell you both."

"Alice Cullen."

I jumped at the use of my full name. Mom only ever calls me that if I'm in trouble.

"Why would you ever be scared to tell us something this important? I know it's big news, hell, I never saw it coming and I pride myself on picking up on things like this. I mean, you can't tell me that there isn't anything going on between Bella and Jasper!"

She moved to lean beside me against the counter.

"The fact that you were so afraid of our reactions, tells me that you really mean this. That you're sure that this is the path you're meant to be on. Corny as it may sound, that's enough for me. If you're sure about this then I'm with you one hundred and fifty percent. I love you, sweetie."

"Thanks, Mom."

I was, once again, fighting back tears as I clung to her. Her long caramel curls fell over my face and the smell of her perfume comforted me. As long as Mom and Dad were happy for me, I'd be able to tell everyone else.

"Though, perhaps you should tell the girls before the boys."

"Why's that?"

"Well, we are talking about Emmett, and Peter, honey. Much as I love them, they're not the most tactful of people. It may be fun to watch them trying, and probably failing, to avoid getting clipped round the back of the head by Rose and Charlotte."

With that she handed me the assembled cheese board, and went to hold open the door for me.

She winked as I passed her and I relaxed. I was ready.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello all!**

**Well, here's the next part of Alice's revelation. I have worried for this chapter. I don't think it to be offensive in anyway, I truly hope to God I don't upset anyone. My beautiful beta Mambomama knows I have worried about this but assures me that it's all fine. Anyhoo, it's not all fluff in this one, so it's not the norm for this fic. Don't fear though, the next chapter is back to Bella madness.**

**Thank you to those who came back and reviewed since the last update. ellaryne Mr. Shy Rockstar and Darling Cullen hugs and squeezes to you!**

**As ever, nothing belongs to me except Jasper-Induced-Stupidity.**

_**Bella POV**_

Well, she did it.

The relief on her face was evident as she emerged with Esme out of the kitchen.

Vic had guessed that she'd told Carlise earlier, a theory that seemed to be confirmed when he returned to the table and whispered something to Esme and she'd flitted of to the kitchen, herself.

I'd been sitting opposite Victoria, and had noticed her glancing at the kitchen door, every few minutes.

I wasn't the only one to notice. Jasper kept glancing at Vic, obviously sensing how worried she seemed to be for Alice. I was studying Carlisle's face for any indication that he'd taken the news badly. I didn't think he would have, but I was concerned all the same.

Observant as ever, Carlise noticed this silent to and fro and rose from his chair at the head of the table. He proceeded to go round the table and began topping up wine glasses for those who needed it.

When he reached Victoria, he leaned slightly lower as he filled her glass, and whispered "She's fine. I'm fine, and I'm sure her mother will be, too."

Jasper, Victoria and I all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, as he carried on round the table. Once again, he lowered himself so that he could whisper to me and, by extension, Jasper – who was sitting next to me – "Can't say I saw that coming though!"

_You can say that again!_

Another hour later, and the guys had retired to Carlisle's 'study', or as we like to call it, the 'Bat Cave'. To call it a study, would be only loosely accurate. True, it had a desk and computer, and a whole wall of leather bound books.

However, the other side of the room, is a technology nut's paradise. Huge television hung on the wall, state of the art multimedia system, carefully hidden speakers and –after much begging from Emmet – a gaming system that boggles my mind.

It started off being called 'The Tree House' because, though it is on the ground floor, it looks out onto the sloping hillside garden, thus giving it the feel of a tree house.

It was only after he watched too much CSI and installed a mad security system, that we renamed it The Bat Cave.

_I swear he has a hidden room behind that bookcase...and I WILL find it..._

We girls had settled out on the veranda. It was a crisp fall night, but the outdoor heaters and the fairy lights that twinkled subtly in the trees and round the trellis made it still feel like midsummer.

Alice was sitting with Victoria on the swing, Esme and I were across from them on one of the outdoor sofas and the other four girls were sitting round the ridiculously lovely garden table. Chatter was comfortable and light, and everyone seemed to be just recovering from such a wonderful meal.

All of a sudden, Ali straightened up and called our attention with a dainty cough.

"Ok. I want to say something to you all, but I'm only going to do it once. Please just hear me out, and then you can react after I finish, okay?"

Esme, Vic and I smiled, while Rose, Char, Angela and Tanya all nodded, somewhat bemused.

"I made a decision recently. It was long thought out, well as thought out as you can think these types of things through..."

"Rambling, darling." Esme interrupted, sweetly.

"Right. Sorry. Well, what I'm trying to tell you is that I have found someone who makes me happier than I ever thought I could be. It hasn't been long, but I feel like I've been waiting for her all my life."

Vic was trying to keep a blank look on her face, but the glassiness of her eyes gave her away. Esme squeezed my hand and I glanced to her and saw such fierce pride that my own eyes began to tear up.

Alice had paused in her speech and I knew it was to let the 'waiting for _her_' comment sink in.

"_Her_, Ali?" Char asked, cautiously.

"You have a girlfriend?" Rose was genuinely curious. Her light open expression seemed to give Alice the courage she needed to carry on.

"I do. She's wonderful. I was so confused for such a long time," she briefly glanced to me and I smiled as the girls' expressions switched to confusion and surprise "but meeting her made everything so clear. As corny as that sounds."

Everyone was quiet for a few moments, the girls were obviously trying to work out who it was. I thought they'd likely have a good idea who it was, but they didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

A few minutes passed, and Alice finally broke the silence.

"So, what _you_ need to know, is that this is my choice, my decision, my life. I am happy and comfortable with the path I've chosen for myself. All _I_ need to know, is whether you think any differently of me. I don't need you to understand, or be okay with it, but I'd like it if you were."

It was Angela who spoke first.

"Why would that make a difference, Ali? Certainly doesn't make a difference to me. I'm guessing you already told your mom and Bella, huh?"

Ali smiled and nodded.

"Well, I'm with Ang. It makes no difference to me, as long as I don't have to fight your new girlfriend for the right to borrow your shoes." Char replied with a wink.

"Me too, Alice. Nobody, girlfriend or not, is going to come between me and those Jimmy's." Rose answered, with a pointed finger and a mock glare.

We all turned to Tanya, who was just staring at Alice, or rather a point in the middle distance.

I didn't know what was going through her mind. I knew she wouldn't have a problem with it, but judging by the rapidly frowning faces of the others, they didn't think so.

Alice looked to me, and I held up one finger, telling her to give her a minute.

See, I'd spent more time with Tanya than the others.

She was already with Edward when we met, then when our little gang began to form, we'd see her a little more. Usually at the bar when she'd give Edward a hand on a particularly busy night. She was always sweet and funny. But to me, she'd always seemed a little lonely, on the edge of what was undoubtedly a very close-knit family.

It made me kind of sad, as they'd seemed to welcome me with open arms, yet Tanya was still an arms' length away. I didn't even think the family were aware of it, either. If Edward knew, he certainly would have done something about it, which led me to believe that if she did feel that way, she was taking care not to let him know.

I called her on it one night, when we were all sitting in the bar, bullshitting about something or other, and she'd dropped in after she got off work to make sure Edward had had a break. She'd taken over for half an hour so he could get something to eat, then perched at the bar when he'd returned. She would glance over to us every few minutes when Ed would be serving a customer, and I could see that she'd like to join us, but for some reason, she didn't.

When it was my turn to get the drinks in, I went over to see what was up. I asked her why she didn't just come over, and she said that she felt that she'd be intruding. In my one-too-many-Jacks way, told her that, for a top lawyer, she was being – and I quote – "fucking stupid".

Thankfully, she laughed instead of slapping me and agreed to pull up a chair with the rest of us. After that, I'd made a point of having lunch or dinner with her at least once a month. I don't know if Ed knew it was such a regular thing. If he did, he never mentioned it, but regardless, though I didn't know her as well as I did Alice, or even Char and Rose, I still her knew her better than most.

Which is why I was thankful that once Alice agreed to give her a few more minutes to herself, the others relaxed and waited for her to sort through whatever she was troubling her.

After what seemed to be a long time, Tanya rose from her chair, walked over to Alice and hugged her. Like a real, boa-constrictor, squeezing the air from your lungs hug.

We were all stunned.

Not because she hugged her, Tanya was an affectionate person, after all. It was the intensity of the embrace that shocked us. To most, the coming-out of a sister-in-law shouldn't elicit such strong emotion.

Then, she stunned us all again, by releasing Alice and pulling Vic into an embrace.

When she eventually released the redhead, she looked at her and smiled, tears streaming down her face.

"Thank you."

"For what, Tanya?" Victoria was perplexed, as were we all.

"For looking after my little sister."

Victoria smiled, having sensed that without asking, Tanya had figured out that she was Alice's girlfriend. "You're welcome, hon."

Tanya then turned to me and the look on her face was so sad that I didn't know what else to do but look to Esme to help me make room for her between us on the sofa. She walked to us and squeezed her slender frame in the gap we created.

And began to cry, I mean _really_ cry.

Everyone else was unsure what to do as I rubbed her back and Esme stroked her hair. It was such a motherly gesture, and I'd never seen her be that way with Tanya before. It must have released something within Tanya, as she began to apologise for her outburst.

"I'm so sorry."

"What is it, Tanya? What is it that's upset you so much?" Char was still confused, but she was concerned like the rest of us.

"I..." she seemed to struggle with how to explain until Rose left her seat to crouch in front of her and hold her hands.

"Come on, T. Alice just dropped one hell of a bomb and we're all good with it. Now we're worried about you, so spill it, sister." _Only Rose could be so sweet and loving, whilst telling you off for making her worry..._

Between sniffs, she began, "It's just that you've all been so wonderful to her. I'm so happy that Alice has all this support. My brother wasn't so lucky."

Faces around us began to drop as Alice asked gently, "Your brother? He died, didn't he?"

Tanya nodded, raised her head to Alice and smiled softly.

"My big brother was everything you could want in a brother. Everything you have in both of yours, Alice. I loved him more than anything in the world and he did me. We were incredibly close, despite the four years difference between us.

"He was protection, love, playful banter and support. Everything my father was not.

"My mother was a meek woman as a result of my father's overbearing nature, though in rare private moments she was a wonderful woman with strong opinions on my right to be anything I wanted to be, even pushing me to pursue my dreams of being a lawyer. Sadly, those moments didn't happen too often and my father dominated the house."

Char handed her a handkerchief she seemed to have conjured out of nowhere. _Who carries those anymore?!_

"When I was nineteen, I came home from college for Thanksgiving. I was looking forward to seeing my brother for the first time in almost a year, as he'd moved away the summer before I left. My father was unusually light hearted. A quiet house and retirement had seemed to work wonders for him and he said he was looking forward to hearing how my studies were going.

"Anyway, to cut a long story short, everything was great, dinner went well, and we were all sitting round watching the game. My brother stood up and told us that he had some news, and that he said we might be shocked, but that he hoped we'd understand as he didn't want to keep it from us any longer.

"He told us that he was gay, that he'd known for a while and tried to deny it. But that he couldn't be miserable any more. That he hoped we'd understand.

"I was shocked, I mean I'd had no idea. But I told him he was still my brother, I loved him to death, and of course I was fine with it. My mother, who'd regained some of her voice since my father had mellowed, also said that though she had never suspected it, she still loved him.

"My father didn't say anything for the longest time. He stood up and looked straight at my brother, who stood tall and waited for his reaction. Eventually, after appearing to study my brother for a long time, my father said that, while he didn't understand it, as long as he wasn't flaunting it in front of him, he'd deal with it.

"It was a better reaction than I was expecting, but my brother was disappointed. He asked whether he'd ever be able to bring a boyfriend home to meet us. However, the wince as the word 'boyfriend' left my brother's mouth, made it clear that the answer was no. He would never be able to be openly gay in his childhood home.

"My mother then asked if he did actually have a boyfriend, and he told us that he did. That he'd been with him for almost a year and that he was happy..."

The bleak look that overcame Tanya's face just then, made my blood run cold. Everyone else seemed to brace themselves too, as what was to come surely wouldn't be anything but horrid. Sure enough, what she told us next was awful.

"...My father exploded. I still don't know to this day, whether it was the fact that he was openly in a relationship with a man, or that he'd kept it a secret for almost a year, but whatever the reason, it sent him over the edge.

"My father flew into a rage. Demanding to know how he could do such a thing? How could he do something so hideous, didn't he know what it would do to his family? How could he be so selfish as to announce it so casually, like that?

"When my brother tried to answer back, it was the first time I'd ever seen my father raise a hand to any of us. The spark that was always in my brother's eyes seemed to fade as he wiped the blood from the side of his mouth, and without looking at my father turned to us and said that he was thankful that we took it so well, and that he'd talk to us soon. Then he hugged us and left.

"It was the last time I'd see him alive. We got a call two days later, that he'd been found in his home after his boyfriend came looking for him after not hearing from him for over a day. Apparently, my brother had driven to his boyfriend's house straight after the confrontation with my father. His boyfriend had been understanding, but couldn't see why he was so upset over my father's –frankly expected- reaction and not just grateful for mine and my mother's happier one.

"They'd gotten into an argument and it escalated to the point that they'd broken up in the heat of their anger. Half an hour later, when he'd called to apologise to my brother, there'd been no answer and he'd thought that he was simply ignoring his calls because he was still angry. He decided to give him some space to calm down, but when a couple of hours turned into the whole night, then a day and a half, he'd decided that enough was enough and that my brother had to stop being so stubborn.

"That's when he let himself into my brother's place and found him on the bed with a picture of the family on his graduation day in one hand, and an empty bottle of vodka with the remnants of the whole bottle of painkillers he'd crushed up and mixed in to it, in the other. My big brother died alone, thinking no one wanted him anymore."

The silence seemed to last forever. Alice's expression was shear heartbreak. Of all the ways she'd expected her family to react, I doubt she'd ever believed it would turn out anything like _that_. For the rest of us, I think we were all stuck on _holy fuck..._

Tanya, who had never really shared much, even with me, had just opened up about something so awful, that we didn't know what to say. Rose and I just held her hands as Esme pulled her into a motherly hug, and Char and Angela scrambled to crouch around her.

Victoria was stoic as she stood to take Alice into her arms. Alice welcomed her embrace, not caring about our possible reactions, as she had so much just an hour before. It didn't seem to matter now. With a kiss to Alice's forehead, she pulled away and moved towards Tanya. The girls parted to let her through.

"Tanya? You listen to me now, hon."

Victoria's honey-velvet drawl, husky and soothing just like her brother's, broke through Tanya's sadness and the weeping woman looked up to Vic as she crouched in front of her.

"Tanya. I cannot imagine how losing your brother must feel. I don't want to. _Ever_. But whatever he was feeling to take his own life like that, he knew you loved him. Don't you ever think he believed _anything_ less, you hear me? Whatever trash your father said to him and whatever your mother should have done to contradict it, your brother had to know that _you_ loved him. Even in that state of mind. Honey, he knew you loved him still. I'd be proud to have a sister like you."

With that, she pulled Tanya's hand to her lips, kissed it gently and went back inside the house. Alice looked on with concern, but I think she knew that Vic needed a few moments to herself.

None of us said much after that. We just huddled round Tanya while she dealt with the aftermath of revealing such a devastating memory. I could relate to some extent. I understood the crippling emotion that sometimes just slams into you. I had experienced it often since losing my father.

I contemplated _that_, too. Not once, in all that time, had she referred to her family as anything but 'my father' or 'my brother'. No familial terms for any of them. Like it was too painful to say her brother's name or that she could no longer recognise her father with more loving terminology. She had obviously never forgiven him for hurting her brother so badly that he took his own life.

It was just so unbelievably sad.

I shuddered at the thought. Unfortunately, my involuntary shiver nudged Rose, who toppled into Char, who wobbled until they both fell on top of Angela.

The momentary shock of them sprawled out on the ground after tumbling like dominoes, seemed to lighten the mood like the flick of a switch.

After dusting herself off, Angela – with uncharacteristic, Rose-like sarcasm – grumbled "Good God, Bella. Only you could shiver and send everyone _else _flying on to their ass."

Everyone chuckled and moved to return to their seats. I glanced back to the house to see if Vic was on her way back, and saw a concerned Edward looking out of the window.

He noticed me looking back and gestured towards his wife. I smiled and nodded discreetly, hopefully reassuring him that she was okay. He still looked worried, but mouthed 'thank you' and moved away from the window.

Knowing that Tanya had the support of the all the women surrounding her, I wanted to go inside and check on Vicky. I stood up, carefully so as to avoid knocking the girls over for a second time, and asked if anyone wanted another drink.

God knows I could do with one, after that emotional rollercoaster.

The resounding _"YES!"_ from every other woman there, told me that I wasn't the only one.


	23. Chapter 23

_**Hello there lovely readers.**_

_**At least, I hope there are still readers! I don't get many reviews anymore *sniffs* but I shall not be deterred. For those of you who are still with me, I salute you. Here is a little light relief. Bella back to her normal Jasper Induced Stupidity. You readers rock, and I loves ya. I may or may not be under the influence of pain killers as I have a very bad back. However, please don't hold that against me! Lol.**_

_**Disclaimer: Characters not mine. Jasper Induced Stupidity is, as I have it in spades.**_

_**Beautiful Mambomama is my beta. I love her.x**_

_**BPOV**_

I went inside and headed to the kitchen.

I needed a fucking drink. Tanya definitely could use a strong one. I didn't think any of the others would turn down a generously sized glass of something either.

Only problem was, there was no way I was going to load up a tray of drinks and carry them all the way back to the terrace. _No way._ Not only was it a long way to walk with eight drinks, (Rose won't even let me walk from the bar to back to our table) but Esme's glasses were some crazy expensive kind from New York or somewhere.

_One set probably cost six month's wages._

I scanned the kitchen for inspiration. There had to be some way to carry that many drinks that far, short of putting them on a tray and sliding them there.

_I could, though... _

No, Bella. No sliding! Why don't you just ask for help?

_Couldn't possibly. That would make too much sense._

Thought your Jasper-Induced-Stupidity had vanished.

_Apparently not._

Jesus, now I talk to myself?! Pass me a martini and I'll have turned into my mother...

Hang on...martini...cocktails! _ Huh_. I could do that.

This wasn't like the time I thought I could horseback ride, or the time I thought cycling would be the easiest way to exercise. Those were things, I definitely could _not_ do.

But, for Char's last birthday we'd cajoled Edward into teaching us girls how to make cocktails. He thought we were kidding, of course. But when we convinced him we were quite serious, he promised to teach us one cocktail each.

Mine happened to be kick-ass margaritas. Yes, _kick-ass_ margaritas.

I began to rummage through the cupboards to find everything I needed. Glasses were easy as they were shining at me from the spectacular and scarily precarious-looking shelving unit on the far wall of the room. The mixer was sitting on one of the gleaming work surfaces, the ice was obviously in the freezer and the mint sat in a very 'TV-cooking-show' style bowl near the sink.

Now to find the tequila...

Three cupboards, two refrigerators and the pantry later, and still no tequila.

_Damn it! Where's the friggin' hooch?!_

"What the hell are you doing?!"

At the sound of the deep, disbelieving voice I jumped a mile out of my skin and banged my head on the roof of the pantry.

I'd been balancing on two of the middle shelves so I could see what was on the top one.

At the resounding thud of my head connecting with heavy wood, the low voice turned into a throaty chuckle.

_Bastard._

"Emmett, you bastard, you scared the shit out of me!"

More laughter.

"Emmett! Stop being an asshole and help me down. I'm seriously 'this close' to seeing cartoon stars round my head."

"Okay, okay, calm yourself down, B. C'mere."

He helped me down, like I weighed nothing more than a bag of sugar, and set me on the counter next to the sink. Noticing as he did, all the ingredients I had been assembling for a pitcher of my alcoholic masterpiece.

"Got ice all ready? Were you planning on giving yourself a concussion so Big Ol' Emmett could rescue ya?"

"Jesus Emmett, what have you guys been doing in The Bat Cave, watching westerns?! Because I hate to tell you, that accent sucks."

"You wound me, Bella."

"Aw, stop with the puppy dog eyes, Em. You know that only works when Ali does it."

"My accent's better than Dad's..."

He actually pouted.

Sad Emmett is adorable. _Probably best not to tell him that, though..._

"So seriously, what were you doing balancing on shelves in the pantry?"

"I was looking for tequila."

"In there?!"

"Okay, I admit that I wasn't expecting it to be in there, but I had to check. If the alcohol isn't kept in the kitchen, where would it be?"

"The cellar, Bella. Ha! That rhymes..."

Childishness aside, the 'where-the-hell-else-would-it-be' look he gave me told me it was stupid not to check the wine cellar. But in my defence, I don't have a goddamn wine cellar, so why would I automatically think that?

"_Damn beautiful people, in their damn beautiful big houses..." _ I must have been grumbling louder than I thought if the loud booming laughter was anything to go by.

"What did _you_ come in for then, Emmett?" I said. Chagrin morphed into mirth, as I hopped down off the counter.

Again I was hit by that look.

"Food."

Of course. Only he could eat a meal like we had – well two really, as he had twice as much as the rest of us – and be hungry enough to eat again less than two hours later. _Unbe-fucking-lievable._

I went to take a step towards the kitchen door, but swayed pretty severely. Thankfully, Emmett caught me before I hit the hard marble floor. _That would have hurt like a sonofabitch..._

"Shit, Bella. How hard did you hit your head?"

"I don't know, Em, pretty damn hard. You did scare the ever lovin' shit out of me." I grouched as he helped me back onto the counter top.

"Well, I think you hit it harder than we thought. Those margaritas will have to wait, hon."

_Pshaw...the hell you say! _

And just like that, Emmett-The-Joker turned into Emmett-The-Brother-Bear. Who had suddenly set me back on top of the counter and was flipping his phone open to text, at a guess, his dad.

Sure enough, not two minutes later, an amused Carlisle strolled into the kitchen, followed by a concerned looking was carrying his trusty 'Mary Poppins' medical bag.

_I swear, one day he's going to pull a coat stand out of that thing..._

Jasper smirkedand – wait, where did Emmett go?

Ah...there he is. Doubled over, laughing his ass off.

_Bastard._

"Maybe not a coat stand, perhaps something a little smaller?"

"Like the talking bird umbrella?" I asked, possibly a bit too much enthusiasm.

"The fuck?!" Asked a very confused Jasper. _Aw, I could just smush his beautiful face..._

Emmett, who had been trying to pull himself together, promptly fell back into full blown belly laughter until-

"Emmett! For God's sake pull yourself together and tell me what on earth happened! Your text only said that Bella was hurt, and that I should come down to check on her." Yelled an increasingly fuzzy looking Carlisle.

_Ooooh, Em's in trouble!_

"Yes he is, Bella. Now what happened, I have a feeling it may have something to do with him, yes?"

Huh, not so inner monologue anymore, then? Eh, well. I had more curious things to think about. Like why, for some reason, did Fuzzy Carlisle kept gently squeezing my hands. _Wow, he has really shiny buttons..._

"Focus, sweetheart." Chuckled Jasper. _Oh, maybe that's why._

"Bella, honey." Another squeeze... "I need you to tell me what happened." _Uh oh, Carlisle's in doctor mode, must be serious._

"Well, I came in to check on Vicky, and to get all us girls a drink after the emotional H-bomb that was dropped. But I realised that there was no way I would be able to carry all those drinks back to the terrace without help. So, after having an argument with myself over the ridiculousness -or genius- of dragging the tray of drinks behind me, I realised I could just make cocktails. _Woah, those really are shiny buttons..."_

"Bella!" Chorused all three lovely men in front of me.

"Right! Sorry...Well, I decided to make some kick ass margaritas. I was hunting round for everything I needed except I couldn't find the tequila. Well, I was balancing on the shelves looking to see over the top one, when Em crept up behind me and made me jump."

More squeezing of the hands.

I had to wonder how much I'd had to drink, as the world was definitely beginning to spin. Badly. Sleeping was also starting to become the best idea I ever had.

_Except for getting with Jasper. THAT was the best idea I ever had. He's pretty..._

Yet more booming laughter was cut off by the sound of a two hands hitting what – even in my whimsical state - I could only guess was Emmet's head. The resulting "Ow, shit!" Told me I was right.

"Language, Emmett!"

Esme's voice ringing through the cavernous kitchen woke me up slightly. Well, at least enough to almost topple off the counter top I was so ungracefully perched upon.

"What in the hell is going on in here? Carlisle, is everything ok?"

"Bella hit her head after Emmett made her jump. It's clear she has a concussion, but I'm about to see if she has any external injuries."

"_Concussion?!_ I came to see what was taking her so long. I thought perhaps she had gone to check on Victoria."

_Aw, lovely Vicky. Viiiiiiickeeeeeeee..._

"Um, yes. Concussion seems to be the case alright." She said, doing a frankly incredible job of holding her laughter. I could see the mirth in her eyes.

She gently tilted my face to look at her..._such_ _lovely hair..._and held my weight as Carlisle checked the top of my head.

"Well, the good news is that you don't need stitches, Bella. However, you're going to need some anti-sickness medication until you get over the concussion."

_Oooh, goody!_

"Ah, yes. I remember your reaction to that the last time you had it."

All but Jasper chuckled at the memory of me, high as a kite at Mom and Pop's twentieth wedding anniversary.

"I'll go get her prescription filled, I've only had one beer."

"Thank you, Jasper."

Carlisle then scribbled something onto a slip of paper and handed it to him.

"C'mon, baby girl. Let's get you down from there and out onto the terrace. The fresh air will clear your head some."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me down. _Oh, he smells so good..._

He chuckled. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Emmett, I noticed, was not laughing any more but standing silently by the door. Jasper began to lead me back to the terrace. As we passed him, I pulled away from J and reached an arm around his waist and curled into him. As he wrapped his huge frame around my smaller – and significantly more wobbly – one, he whispered "I'm sorry, honey".

He held me for a minute longer then passed me back to Jasper. That sounds bad, but I really needed to be held up as we walked the short distance back to the other girls.

"What am I going to do with you, sugar?" He smiled down at me as he stopped to open the door.

_Hmmm...Keep me._

"I think I can handle that."

He kissed my forehead lightly and opened the door.


End file.
